Depression as a disease is often hidden. Many of its sufferers hide it from friends and family because they fear being stigmatized as “weak” or given easy advice like “snap out of it” by unknowing others. But the fact is, depression is a widespread affliction that brings suffering and needless death to countless millions in the United States, from where I write, and worldwide.
Consider these facts. In 2021, the latest year for which data are available, it’s estimated that some 21 million adults in the U.S., or about 8.3 percent of all adults, had at least one depressive episode. Worldwide, the numbers are staggeringly similar; about 280 million people in the world have depression, about five percent of all adults.
In both the U.S. and around the globe, rates of depression are roughly 50 percent higher among women than men. Depression is especially prevalent among young adults, those aged 18-25; in the U.S., the rate of depression in this age group amounted to nearly 19 percent, or about one in five young persons.
The costs of depression due to lost work time, not to mention the pain sufferers must endure, is incalculable. What’s well-known, however, is the extent to which depression leads many of its sufferers to escape their pain and feelings of hopelessness through suicide. In the U.S., suicide claimed over 48,000 lives in 2021, making it the eleventh leading cause of death overall and the second leading cause of death among those aged 10-14 and 25-34. There were twice as many deaths from suicide as from homicide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 700,000 people die from suicide each year, with the highest rates among those aged 15-29, where its’ the fourth leading cause of death.
Depression is treatable, however, and both medication and therapy can offer relief to many depressed persons. However, both cost and availability of treatment often prevent access and the WHO estimates that more than 75 percent of people in low- and middle-income countries receive no treatment at all.
Expanding investments in mental health care, training more health care providers in the field of mental health, and taking steps to reduce social stigma associated with mental disorders are all needed to address this global scourge.
Out of Darkness 