Major Depression In The United States: A Case Study

Decent Essays
Prevalence
Depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States. Prevalence of major depression in the United States is approximately 7%, with differences by age groups and gender. The prevalence of major depression in 18- to 29-year-old individuals is threefold higher than the prevalence in individuals age 60 years or older. Females are at 1.5- to 3- fold higher risk to develop depression than males (DSM, 2013).
Until recently depression in children has been underrecognized. Now it is known that children and adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age have an 11.2% prevalence of depression, and 3.3% have a severe form of the illness. If the first episode of depression occurs in childhood or adolescence, the likelihood of recurrence

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Overall 6.7% of adults in the United States had a major depressive episode in 2015. 8.5% of that was females and 4.7% was males. Most of the adults had the episode from the ages of 18-25. Only 4.5% were over the age of 50. Most of that 6.7% of adults were a mixed race.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Depression affects 11% of adolescents during the teenage years. Across America, depression is one of the highest diagnosed mental illnesses. With the rising stress levels of day to day life, more teenagers are getting diagnosed with this mental illness. Depression is not just simple sadness; it is a mental illness that restricts many people from performing to their highest capabilities. Each individual handles depression in different ways.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How Does Ocd Affect Women

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Major depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. it affect 16.1 million American adults or about 6.7% of the population. It is more prevalent due to trauma in women than men.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    If you were living in a dark world of sadness, worthlessness and hopelessness, and all it took was a doctor’s signature to find light again, would you take it? According to Proquest Database, depression is a serious mental condition, symptoms include; extreme feelings of sadness, worthlessness or hopelessness, fatigue, irritability, loss of appetite, inability to concentrate, and insomnia or excessive sleeping. This paper will examine the pro, con and my viewpoint on should antidepressant drugs be subscribed for children suffering from depression? To begin with, the pro viewpoint in antidepressant drugs can improve their quality of life.…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Depression among adolescents has slowly started to become an epidemic in the United States. Studies show that one in eight American teenagers will experience any form of depression. That 's estimated at about 15-20% of the teen population. Looking at adults, only 5-10% experience any form of depression in their adult lives (¨Depression and Mood¨). Depression comes in an abundance of shapes and forms.…

    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many people in this world who are suffering from depression. Depression affects twenty percent of all the Americans. Some of the people even did not know about the depression. In any age group the person can suffer from the depression. Although all the age groups are open to the depression, the teenagers are the mostly common to be heard of being suffered from the depression.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    6-10% of U.S population is clinically depressed and it causes more than $80 billion a year in loss of productivity. • Women are twice as likely to experience major depression as men. Women are more prone to depression than men and often their symptoms are also different. Many factors can contribute to women's depression from reproductive hormones to social pressure to…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Depression is a growing problem in today’s society, it affects 1 in 10 people at some point in their lives and the number of patients diagnosed with depression increases by 20% each year. As a result, doctors have been looking for different ways to solve this problem, such as different forms of therapy or the use of antidepressants. However, there has been a large dispute over the use of antidepressants, especially in young children and adolescents. Antidepressants are used to balance the chemicals in your brain; Many people believe that antidepressants should not be prescribed to children and adolescents, because they are too young and the effects that the medication has on them could negatively affect them not only now, but later in life.…

    • 1854 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 2006, the fear of a child and adolescent epidemic shook society. The thought of a child and adolescent depression epidemic formed from four observations: a rise in antidepressant medication prescribed to adolescents and children, an increase in adolescent suicide, increased rates of long term depression in older generations, and a study in Britain found a rise in emotional problems in adolescents (Costello, Erkanli, and Angold, 2006). To address the profound question as to whether there was an epidemic in child and adolescent depression, or not, Costello et al. (2006) developed a meta-analysis formed from research studies that focused on depression in children and adolescents from the years 1950 to 1990. In addition to concluding if there…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The National Institute of Mental Health states Major depression is serve symptoms that interfere with an individual’s ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy life (NIMH). Symptoms of this diagnoses is being depressed most of the day, pleasure and interest is reduced, significant weight loss, loss of energy, inability to concentrate and or recurrent thoughts of death (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The prevalence rate of this diagnosis is a 12 month occurrence of 7%, individuals 18-29 are higher than individuals 60 year or older, and from early adolescence, females experience 1.5 to 3 higher rates than males (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the statistics for depression is that 9% of adult Americans have feelings of depression and about 3 % of adults have major depression, also known as major depressive disorder (Illiades, 2013).…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1 in 4 women suffer a severe depression in their lifetime.(c) The National Comorbidity survey shows that roughly 11 percent of adolescents experience depression at least once before turning 18. Considering that this is a real illness, Robert Packard points out that individuals living with depression face many of the same problems as those with life threatening diseases such as Cancer.(a) This matters because depression can affect you for a long time and it doesn't just go away. You have to learn to manage…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I believe that screening for depression in children 11 years and younger must be conducted to ensure timely diagnosis and provide necessary treatment and therapy. This issue is important to people from all walks of life. I recommend three things to do as citizens, parents, healthcare professionals, school teachers, or whatnot, and advocate for including screening for childhood depression for children ages 11 years and younger, depending on their cognitive developmental stage in life- • As we know, schools play a vital role in child development and behavior shaping. Children 5-18 years old spend most of their time in schools, their teachers serve as a valuable source of information and should participate in complete evaluation process if possible.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The epidemiology of depression shows that 20% of adults are either directly or indirectly impacted by depression during their lifetime, with twice the number women being diagnosed with the disorder when compared to men. Depression has also been shown to have a hereditary component, with a significant increase in diagnosis for individuals who have a family history of clinical depression. It is also reported that depression is highly correlated with suicide rates and physical disabilities such as cardiovascular disease (Frassure-Smith & Lesperence, 1995), diabetes (Eaton, 2002) and cancer (Massie, 2004) and general health wellbeing. It is estimated that depression costs the Australian economy $12.6 billion per year, with losses in productivity is estimated to…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is proven when looking at kids with depression. Depression in adults typically presents itself as changes in sleep patterns, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, a noticeable change in appetite, and feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, among many others (Ballas). In young children depression often presents itself in different ways, including: complaints of not feeling well, refusal to attend school, clinging to a parent or worrying that their parents may pass away (National Institute of Mental Health). Due to these differences in symptoms, parents should watch for changes in their child’s behavioral, sleeping, and school work habits (Ballas). Older children and teenagers also have different symptoms than adults such as sulking or grouchy attitudes, misbehaving in school, or feeling like no one understands them (National Institute of Mental Health).…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Depression affects about 20% of adolescents by the time they become adults. It also affects more young ladies than it does males. Teens are at a…

    • 1278 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays