How Much Have Depression Rates Increased?

Depression has the ability to impact people from any age group. When it persists over time, depression can be a debilitating medical illness (Reference 5). Medline Plus asserts that depression is most often first experienced at ages 15 to 30, and it is more often diagnosed in women than in men (Reference 5). However, depression rates for all populations have increased over the course of the last decade.

2004-2005

• The Uplift Program reports that the actual percentages of depressed adults in the United States were significantly higher during this time period, with 9.5% of adults suffering from depression (Reference 2). Furthermore, The Uplift Program indicates that worldwide, the depression rate in 2005 among children was 23%, and 30% among women (Reference 2).

  In the years 2004 and 2005, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report indicated that in the United States, 7.65% of adults aged 18 or older, and 8.88% of youth from ages 12 to 17 suffered from one episode of Major Depressive Disorder (Reference 1). Among 12 to 17 year olds, rates of a major depressive episode were highest in Idaho (10.37%) and Nevada (10.28%). For adults, the highest rates were in Utah (10.14%) and Rhode Island (9.88%).

2006

• The Centers for Disease Control contended that in 2006, 15.7% of the U.S. population suffered from depression (Reference 6). This statistic is closely aligned with the 2004-2005 statistics. However, the CDC also indicated that there were another 11.3% of the population that suffered from anxiety disorders in 2006, with anxiety often being a condition that leads to or exists in conjunction with depressive episodes (Reference 6). By 2006 it was also understood that individuals with ongoing health conditions, such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes, obesity, alcoholism, inactivity, and smoking were more likely to develop depression (Reference 6).

Today

• The U.S. Department of Health reports that there are in excess of 20 million individuals in the United States with depression, or that have suffered from a major depressive episode (Reference 3). This includes 1 in 10 children that have depression (Reference 4). Twice the number of women as opposed to men have depression, with the statistics indicating 12.4% of women suffer from depression, compared to only 6.6% of men (Reference 7). Currently, depressive episodes can begin at an average age of 14.5 years, while during the 1950s depressive episodes did not normally begin to take place in individuals until almost age 30 (Reference 7).

  These statistics demonstrate that there has been a slow increase in the rates of depression over the last decade, as well as a decrease in the age at which depressive episodes begin to occur. Also, a growing number of women and children will experience depression in their lives.