Some facts and figures about depression

1. Depression
A whole body illness

2. What is depression?
• Whole body illness that affects physical
health as well as emotional health.
• May influence factors such as
eating, sleeping, working and relationships
with others.

3. Types of depression
• Major depressive disorder: Combination of
symptoms that interfere with daily
functioning
• Dysthymic disorder: long term (2 yrs or
longer) symptoms which do not disable the
person but prevent normal functioning or
feeling well.
• Minor depression: Symptoms 2 weeks or
longer, but without full criteria.

4. Other forms of depression
• Psychotic depression (severe depression with psychosis
and breaks from reality)
• Postpartum depression (following child birth)
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) depression during the
winter months, can be treated with light therapy
• Bipolar disorder: Combination of depression and mania

5. Clinical Depression diagnosis
Clinical depression will show at least 5 of the following
symptoms, most days
• Sad, low, empty
• Loss of interest & pleasure
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
• Decreased energy, fatigue, feeling slower
• Changes in appetite and/or weight
• Oversleeping, early morning wakening or insomnia
• Thoughts of death, suicide

6. Causes of depression
• Combination of
genetic, biological, environmental and
psychological
• Brains of depressed people look different
than non depressed people
• Can run in families

7. How it is diagnosed
• Medications and some medical conditions can
mimic depression, so ask doctor first
• Other mental illnesses can come before
depression, such as anxiety disorders, obsessive
compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia
and more
• Can be accompanied by alcohol and/or substance
abuse
• Can occur with serious medical illness

8. Treatments
• Medication: Antidepressants work on brain
chemicals such as serotonin, norepinephrine and
dopamine
• St. John’s wort is an herb which may help.
However, it may interfere with other medications!
• Psychotherapy
• Electroconvulsive therapy and brain stimulation

9. Helping a friend or relative
• Offer emotional support & understanding
• Talk and then listen carefully
• Do not dismiss feelings
• Don’t ignore talk of suicide
• Invite them out for walks, outings etc.
• Provide assistance in getting to doctors office
• Remind that eventually, things do get better.

10. Helping yourself
• Seek treatment early
• Exercise and get out more
• Set realistic goals
• Break large tasks into small ones
• Spend time with people and confine in a friend
• Expect to feel better gradually
• Postpone important decisions until you feel better
• Allow positive thoughts to replace negative ones
• Educate yourself about depression

11. Some facts
• Estimated 17.5 million Americans have some depression
• 9.2 million have clinical depression
• 2/3 of depressed will not seek treatment
• 80% of those treated significantly improve quality of life
• Women experience depression twice as much as men
• By 2020, WHO estimates depression will be the 2nd
highest cause of loss of quality of life
• CDC reports in 1996 that suicide was 9th cause of death
• Major depression is 1.5 to 3.0 more common among
biological relatives of those depressed

12. Resources
• http://www.psychiatry.wustl.edu/depression
/depression_facts.htm
• http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depr
ession/index.shtml