Depression can affect any age or sex; it can be a short-lived experience, or one that continues for many years. More than 5 million people in the UK are living with depression. The condition costs the UK more than £8 billion a year.
The World Health Organisation estimates that by the year 2020, depression will be the second most debilitating condition in the developed world.
Fewer than 25% of sufferers from depression have access to treatment.
It is common in people aged over 65. Up to 15% of older adults have clinically significant symptoms, and 60% of these adults are not receiving treatment. The highest incidence of first attacks of depression occurs between the age of 55 and 65 in men, and between 50 and 60 in women.
At any one time, 1 in 4 people in Britain suffer from some form of depression. Approximately 1 in 6 who have suffered from depression commit suicide.
| Depression is not feeling worried, demoralised or unhappy:
it is an illness that requires medical treatment. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness or failure. |
Other illnesses such as arthritis and heart disease can cause symptoms similar to depression. Approximately 50% of people with clinical depression fail to receive a proper diagnosis or treatment. More than 80% of these can be helped with appropriate assistance.
Many believe that late life depression is an unavoidable by-product of the ageing process. This is untrue. There are many things which contribute towards periods of depression, especially medical, social and economic factors, more commonly faced by older people.
Sufferers need help from family and friends as well as from their doctor. Depression affects everything in a persons life. The situation can be made worse by lack of correct medical advice and understanding.
| As with all illnesses, the root of the problem must be understood for treatment to be successful. |
Some interesting facts about mental health:
Around a quarter of all the drugs prescribed by the NHS are for mental health problems.
Prescriptions for antidepressants in England rose by over 100% between 1990 and 1995.
85% of the general public think that people with mental ill health have been the subject of discrimination for far too long. 90% agree that we need to adopt a far more tolerant attitude towards people with mental ill health.
The public are far more at risk from young men under the influence of alcohol than they are from people with a mental health problem.
In a survey by Mind 60% of mental health service users felt that media coverage was to blame for the discrimination they experienced.
In a survey by the Mental Health Foundation 47% of people with mental health problems said that they had experienced discrimination at work.
Stress-related absences account for half of all sicknesses from work.
03/06/2009