Depression is widespread and it is getting worse. Nineteen percent of Americans will suffer from depression at some time during their lives. Sadly, depression hits the young and old alike. Fifty percent of children and adolescents and 20 percent of adults report some symptoms of depression. Even though many kids don't "qualify" for the clinical diagnosis of depression, they have some of the problems that "truly depressed" people have--such as sadness, self-criticism, and the inability to enjoy their lives.
Many of these depressed kids eventually become depressed adults. And, it's getting worse in recent decades (Kessler and Walters, 1998; Ronald C. Kessler, Avenevoli, & Ries Merikangas, 2001). Kids born after 1960 were significantly more likely to suffer from depression in childhood or adolescence than kids born before 1960 (Klearman, G.L., Weissman,M.M.(1989)). Depression is on the rise--and the costs are escalating.
Depression has human costs that we all know of: sadness, sense of isolation, feeling like a burden, inability to enjoy life, and--for 35,000 people every year--suicide (Joiner, 2010). In fact, people who are depressed are 30 times more likely to kill themselves than people who are not depressed (Hawton, 1992). Depressed individuals are five times more likely to abuse drugs. These costs in the quality of life are enough to make us all concerned about depression. They are the human costs which are widespread and touch almost every family in America.
But there are also economic costs that are also significant--indeed, alarming.
Depression is the leading cause of medical disability for people aged 14 to 44 (Stewart, Ricci, Chee, Hahn, & Morganstein, 2003). Depressed people lose 5.6 hours of productive work every week when they are depressed (Stewart, 2003). Eighty percent of depressed people are impaired in their daily functioning (Pratt & Brody, 2008). Fifty percent of the loss of work productivity is due to absenteeism and short-term disability (R. C. Kessler, et al., 1999). In any 30 day period, depressed workers have 1.5 to 3.2 more short-term disability days (Druss, Schlesinger, & Allen, 2001).
People with symptoms of depression are 2.17 times more likely to take sick days (Adler, et al., 2006; Greener & Guest, 2007). And when they are at work their productivity is impaired--less ability to concentrate, lower efficiency, and less ability to organize work. In fact, absenteeism and work performance are directly related to how severe the depression is--the more severe the depression, the worse the outcome. In one study the costs of absenteeism were directly related to actually taking antidepressant medication (Birnbaum, et al., 2010; Dewa, Hoch, Lin, Paterson, & Goering, 2003). Those who took the prescribed medication had a 20 percent lower cost of absenteeism. Depressed people are seven times more likely to be unemployed (Lerner, et al., 2004).
In one of the largest studies of its nature ("The long-term effects of psychological problems during childhood"), children were followed for 40 years to determine the effects of illness and psychological problems on their life chances (Smith & Smith, 2010). Children or adults who suffer from depression have lower incomes, lower educational attainment and fewer days working each year. In fact, these psychological problems lead to seven fewer weeks of work per year, a loss of 20 percent in potential income, and a lifetime loss for each family who has a depressed family member of $300,000 (Smith & Smith, 2010).
People who suffer from depression end up with six-tenths of a year less schooling, an 11 percent decrease in the probability of getting married, and a loss (on average) of $10,400 per year in income by age 50 (Smith & Smith, 2010). In fact, there is a 35 percent decrease in lifetime income--due to depression. The cost for the total group--over one's lifetime--is estimated at 2.1 trillion dollars (Smith & Smith, 2010). And this does not include the increased cost of medical care that all of us must assume. Depression is a lifelong vulnerability for millions of people. And it's a national economic crisis.
The cost of depression (lost productivity and increased medical expenses) is $83 billion each year which exceeds the costs of the war in Afghanistan (Greenberg, et al., 2003). And depression is not a "limited engagement" with a fixed endpoint. These costs reoccur each year, every year, for the foreseeable future. Depression is an ongoing war that we may only recently recognize is a difficult one--but a potentially winnable war.
In the United Kingdom the National Health Service (NHS) has developed the largest mental health intervention program in history. The Improving Access to Psychological Treatments (IAPT) initiative mandates access to effective treatments for depression and other psychological problems. The argument behind this national initiative is largely economic--depressed people are less likely to work, have more disability days, and are less likely to be able to pay taxes. Simply from a practical point of view, effective treatment for depression makes economic sense. It's a good investment. If you effectively treat depression, people are more likely to work, require less disability coverage and--as cynical as it may sound--more likely to pay taxes. Treating depression pays. It's smart policy--and the right thing to do.
We may not be able to effectively overcome depression for everyone. Even though there are effective treatments for depression--such as medication or cognitive behavioral therapy--depressed people often wait over 10 years on average to seek treatment. This may sound depressing. But there is hope. If more people seek treatment earlier--and get effective treatment--the human cost and the economic costs can be reversed. It is hard to imagine what could be a higher priority if we care about the welfare of our people.
Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D.
American Institute for Cognitive Therapy
Author: "Beat the Blues Before they Beat You"
References
Adler, D. A., McLaughlin, T. J., Rogers, W. H., Chang, H., Lapitsky, L., & Lerner, D. (2006). Job performance deficits due to depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1569-1576.
Birnbaum, H. G., Kessler, R. C., Kelley, D., Ben-Hamadi, R., Joish, V. N., & Greenberg, P. E. (2010). Employer burden of mild, moderate, and severe major depressive disorder: Mental health services utilization and costs, and work performance. Depression and Anxiety, 27(1), 78-89.
Dewa, C. S., Hoch, J. S., Lin, E., Paterson, M., & Goering, P. (2003). Pattern of antidepressant use and duration of depression-related absence from work. British Journal of Psychiatry, 183, 507-513.
Druss, B. G., Schlesinger, M., & Allen, H. M. (2001). Depressive symptoms, satisfaction, with health care, and 2-year work outcomes in an employed population. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 731-734.
Greenberg, P. E., Kessler, R. C., Birnbaum, H. G., Leong, S. A., Lowe, S. W., Berglund, P. A., et al. (2003). The economic burden of depression in the United States: How did it change between 1990 and 2000? Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64, 1465-1475.
Greener, M. J., & Guest, J. F. (2007). Do antidepressants reduce the burden imposed by depression on employers? CNS Drugs, 19, 253-264.
Hawton, K. (1992). Suicide and attempted suicide. Handbook of affective disorders. E. S. Paykel. New York, Guilford Press: 635-650
Joiner, Thomas Myths about suicide. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press. (2010). 288 pp.
Kessler, R. C., Avenevoli, S., & Ries Merikangas, K. (2001). Mood disorders in children and adolescents: An epidemiologic perspective. Biological Psychiatry, 49(12), 1002-1014.
Kessler, R. C., Barber, C., Birnbaum, H. G., Frank, R. G., Greenberg, P. E., Rose, R. M., et al. (1999). Depression in the workplace: Effects on short-term disability. Health Affairs, 18, 163-171.
Kessler, Ronald C. and E. E. Walters, "Epidemiology of DSM-III-R major depression and minor depression among adolescents and young adults in the National Comorbidity Survey," Depression and Anxiety 7 (1998): 3
Klearman, G.L.,&Weissman,M.M.(1989).Increasingratesofdepression. Journal of the AmericanMedicalAssociation,261(15),2229e2235
Lerner, D., Adler, D. A., Chang, H., Lapitsky, L., Hood, M. Y., Perissinotto, C., et al. (2004). Unemployment, job retention, and productivity loss among employees with depression. Psychiatric Services, 55(12), 1371-1378.
Pratt, L. A., & Brody, D. J. (2008). Depression in the United States household population, 2005-2006: NCHS Data Brief Number 7.
Smith, J. P., & Smith, G. C. (2010). Long-term economic costs of psychological problems during childhood. Social Science & Medicine, 71, 110-115.
Stewart, W. F., Ricci, J. A., Chee, E., Hahn, S. R., & Morganstein, D. (2003). Cost of lost productive work time among US workers with depression. Journal of the American Medical Association, 289, 3135-3144.
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Robert Leahy, Ph.D.: Inside the Manic Mind
Lloyd I. Sederer, MD: Depression Treatment: Treating Depression the Old-Fashioned Way
Robert Leahy, Ph.D.: Is Dwelling on the Negative Hurting You? The Cognitive Costs of Rumination
Lloyd I. Sederer, MD: Finding the Right Psychiatrist
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Depression-linked-to-chronic-brain-inflammation/articleshow/6786769.cms
Think of it being much akin to having a low-level flu, without the cough, temperature and sniffles.
Less medication and therapy if we can control any instance of chronic inflammation.
It's always easy to galvanize an optimist with the economy carrot. Just look at all those happy go lucky blissfully ignorant republicans chomping at the bit to "free the economy" from the government. Their happiness = numbers in wall street.
But that's the way life is. No one get's out alive, and we all decompensate on some level. We all die. Some people get affected by it. I think it's completely understandable. The problem with "curing" some people, is that one is basically telling them their experience is wrong. Can you imagine if I walked up to you and basically said, "Look me and everyone else have this common understanding of what is right in the world, and you don't" It just feeds the disease. This too happens from time to time.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5841186/what_is_clinical_depression.html?cat=5
Is the diagnosis of depression made more often?
Is it we have more drugs to treat depression?
Is the epidemic of depression a reflection and result of failing family and societal support systems?
Are we treating depression as a symptom of a larger underlying problem; that we are ignoring?
The operative phrase is, If we care about the welfare of our people. If that is our highest priority then why such heated, hate filled rhetoric about health care reform (both for and against)?
If depressed people make so much less ($10,400 a year less) then non depressed people, how can they afford treatment in a society based on capitalism?
How much profit (in billions of dollars, and percentages) do drug companies make from anti-depressants?
What's the average salary of the health care professional that treats depression? How does that compare to the income of the average patient?
Is depression genetic, or does the everyday stress of fighting to make a living in an increasingly cut throat culture and competing for a place in the ever shrinking labor pool add to the problem? Why is the problem growing and what's the largest contributing factor?
Personally I find it depressing that the first question I have to ask about almost any topic in the news and on the blogs anymore is......... where does the money trail lead?
If there were no higher priority in America, then the welfare of our people. I wouldn't have to ask myself that question, everyday, over and over again.
http://timÂesofindia.ÂindiatimesÂ.com/life-Âstyle/healÂth-fitnessÂ/health/DeÂpression-lÂinked-to-cÂhronic-braÂin-inflammÂation/artiÂcleshow/67Â86769.cms
If you review studies, in many cases only those from the US find drugs and tests to be effective, the rest of the world does not. For example, only US studies find that mammograms reduce breast cancer deaths, those outside US do not. It is very suspicious when the most for-profit system finds profitable treatments effective, while others do not.
I worked in medical imaging for five years, went to RSNA, consulted with radiologists, from US, EU, Japan. That is why I trust reports from US medical industry like I do those from AEI. Both are trade groups, working to increase profits.
http://www.annals.org/content/153/6/JC3-4.citation
Statins do not reduce mortality in patients with heart failure
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Prevention/20948
Should Healthy People Take Statins? New Studies Say No
Reanalysis of a landmark cholesterol-lowering trial of people typically considered at low risk for heart attacks indicated that the results are flawed -- and do not support the primary-prevention benefits that made headlines.
It is hard to trust a therapist who out of touch with reality or cannot add... you might want to consult Stiglitz's book about the cost of the wars...
Three times as many died in Iraq, likewise were injured. 50,000 died in Vietnam, 8x both of them combined. Afghanistan is a minor police action, not costly in life or money.
The last 30 years since we ended the draft are the most peaceful in US history, look it up.
Then again just take a look at all the work that is going to be provided by the birth of these victims of angelic innocence through no fault of their own by way of using the weapon of mass destruction known as depleted uranium:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox&hs=tds&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&q=depleted+uranium+baby+images&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=00zYTNusKoH78AaAz_CUDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=620
No matter how bad things get - just promise yourself to hang on for one more day.
It didn't compute in "my supercomputer" and short circuited any reason to be connected to the country. I was angry bitter and vengeful. Cursed Bush to the blue blazes for his cabal of crooks for 8 years. The only cure I had available was making a difference in changing through helping candidates that were "GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE."
I was better during the Kerry campaign, that just gave me a lift out.
I got even more better when Dems were put in control in 2006, even though the filabuster stopped most of their reversals of Bush tax cuts to the rich.
In 2008, I was cured, and now I know how to do what has to be done, and advise others on how to do their due dilegience and and research for truth before voting.
I used to have IQ of 145, now it's about 128, but I'm getting better with tone to clear the "7 chakras" in my body and accept the things i cannot change, learning the difference.
youtube search your 7 chakras, and when nobody is around, Ommmmmmmm your self to health.
I don't know here my wife would be without her medication: She's no longer suicidal, can leave the house for hours at a time, etc.
In her case, other than a dry-mouth sensation, medication has been an unmitigated cause for celebration
Recognizing things around you going on, is a reality check and when you find those who are really just after something, anything from you. Get away if they don't give some sort of happiness back. Whether from conversation or spending of time.
My doctor told me after raising nine children, of whom four are ungrateful and sometimes disrespectful.
Treat them like a satelite around your orbit.
"Sorta like the ten foot pole' lesson. You are the center, they are the satelites, you can turn them off anytime, but not listening to them if they are a downer, abusive, or just plain energy drainers of wowsy woozers.
If necessary, treat them like an "outer galaxy" and don't answer the phone.
Read more here:
http://brainmindinst.blogspot.com/2008/06/brain-giant-self-medicating-gland.html