Depression is a prevalent mental illness. Depression is thought to affect 5% of adults worldwide.
Depression is a major contributor to the global burden of disease and the leading cause of disability worldwide.
Depression affects more women than men.
Suicide can result from depression.
Depression of any severity—mild, moderate, or severe—can be effectively treated.
Overview Depression is a common condition that affects about 3.8 percent of people worldwide. Adults make up 5.0 percent and people over 60 make up 5.7 percent of those who suffer from it (1). Depression affects approximately 280 million people worldwide (1). Depression is distinct from typical mood swings and brief emotional responses to everyday challenges. Depression has the potential to become a serious health condition, particularly when it is recurrent and of moderate or severe intensity. It can make the person who is affected extremely unhappy and unable to perform well at work, school, and in the family. Depression can lead to suicide at its worst. Every year, over 700,000 people commit suicide. The fourth leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 is suicide.
Over 75% of people in low- and middle-income countries do not receive treatment for mental disorders, despite the existence of known, effective treatments. Boundaries to successful consideration incorporate an absence of assets, absence of prepared medical services suppliers and social disgrace related with mental problems. People with depression are frequently misdiagnosed and prescribed antidepressants in countries of all income levels, and those without the condition are frequently misdiagnosed as well.
Patterns and symptoms A person experiences a depressed mood (feeling sad, irritable, and empty) or a loss of enjoyment or interest in activities for most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks during a depressive episode. A few different side effects are likewise present, which might incorporate unfortunate fixation, sensations of over the top culpability or low self-esteem, sadness about the future, considerations about biting the dust or self destruction, disturbed rest, changes in hunger or weight, and feeling particularly drained or low in energy.
In some cultural contexts, some people may be more likely to express mood swings through physical symptoms like pain, fatigue, or weakness. However, there is no other medical condition that causes these physical symptoms.
The individual experiences significant difficulties in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, and/or other crucial areas of functioning during a depressive episode.
A person's level of functioning and the number and severity of their symptoms determine whether a depressive episode is mild, moderate, or severe.
Mood disorders come in a variety of forms, including:
single episode burdensome turmoil, meaning the individual's sole episode);
repetitive burdensome problem, meaning the individual has a background marked by no less than two burdensome episodes; and bipolar disorder, in which depressive episodes alternate with periods of manic symptoms like euphoria or irritability, increased activity or energy, and other symptoms like being more talkative, having racing thoughts, having higher self-esteem, not needing as much sleep, being distractible, and acting impulsively and recklessly.
Factors contributing to the condition and ways to prevent it Depression is caused by a complicated combination of social, psychological, and biological factors. Depression is more common in people who have experienced negative life events like unemployment, bereavement, or traumatic events. In turn, depression can cause more stress and dysfunction, deteriorate the person's life, and worsen the depression itself.
Depression and physical health are linked in some way. For instance, depression and cardiovascular disease can coexist.
It has been demonstrated that prevention programs reduce depression. School-based programs that encourage children and adolescents to develop a pattern of positive coping are effective community strategies for preventing depression. Parents of children with behavioral issues may benefit from interventions that reduce symptoms of parental depression and improve outcomes for their children. Exercise programs for the elderly can also be useful in preventing depression.
Treatment and diagnosis Depression can be effectively treated.
Psychological treatments like behavioral activation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy, as well as antidepressant medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), may be offered by healthcare providers based on the severity and pattern of depressive episodes over time. Bipolar disorder is treated with a variety of medications. The potential side effects of antidepressant medication, the ability to provide either intervention (in terms of expertise and/or treatment availability), and individual preferences should all be taken into consideration by healthcare providers. Individual and/or group face-to-face psychological treatments provided by professionals and supervised lay therapists are among the various treatment formats that should be taken into consideration. For mild depression, antidepressants are not the first line of treatment. They should not be used to treat depression in children and should not be used as the first line of treatment for adolescents, who require extra caution when using them.
Response from WHO: The WHO's Mental Health Action Plan for 2013–2030 lays out the steps needed to provide people with mental disorders, like depression, with the right treatments.
The Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) of the World Health Organization addresses depression as one of its top priorities. The Program aims to assist nations in expanding services for individuals with mental, neurological, and substance use disorders by providing care by health professionals who are not mental health specialists.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has created brief psychological intervention manuals for depression that can be given to individuals and groups by laypeople. The Problem Management Plus manual, for example, explains how to use behavioral activation, manage stress, solve problems, and build social support. In addition, the manual for Group Interpersonal Therapy for Depression explains how depression is treated in groups. The use of cognitive-behavioral therapy for perinatal depression is covered in the Thinking Healthy manual as well.
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