WEBVTT - How Common Is Depression?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey You brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here just a heads up. Our episode today

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<v Speaker 1>deals with mental health and depression. So if you're not

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<v Speaker 1>up for that right now, take care of yourself, okay, okay.

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<v Speaker 1>One of these symptoms of depression is feeling singularly lonely,

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<v Speaker 1>as though no one could understand how low you're feeling,

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<v Speaker 1>or that you're alone, even among friends or family. And

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<v Speaker 1>to be fair, everyone's experiences on this planet are singular

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<v Speaker 1>and individual. But depression is really pretty common. But answering

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<v Speaker 1>the question of how common is it is really complicated.

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<v Speaker 1>First off, by depression, I mean feelings of sadness, emptiness,

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<v Speaker 1>or irritability that affect one's capacity to function. On a

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<v Speaker 1>global scale. It's estimated that somewhere between three point eight

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<v Speaker 1>percent and four point four percent of human beings experience depression,

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<v Speaker 1>something like three hundred million people, give or take a

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<v Speaker 1>few dozen million. And I know that is an infuriatingly

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<v Speaker 1>imprecise statistic, but depression can be difficult to put a

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<v Speaker 1>finger on, and nonetheless, it is a serious issue. The

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<v Speaker 1>World Health Organization ranks it as the single largest contributor

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<v Speaker 1>to disability on the planet. Of course, depressive conditions aren't

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<v Speaker 1>evenly and randomly distributed throughout the world. A depression can

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<v Speaker 1>affect anyone regardless of who you are and where you

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<v Speaker 1>are in life, but it is more common in certain populations. Globally,

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<v Speaker 1>it's most common in older adults ages fifty five to

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<v Speaker 1>seventy four. Ish Women are about fifty percent more likely

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<v Speaker 1>than men to experience it. It's most prevalent in people's

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<v Speaker 1>with the incomes, but those in zones of active conflict

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<v Speaker 1>and those living with chronic physical illnesses, which really only

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<v Speaker 1>makes sense. When you start getting a little more granular,

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<v Speaker 1>the statistics start getting weirder. Rates of depressive disorders are

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<v Speaker 1>higher in North America than anywhere else in the world

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<v Speaker 1>because of Greenland, which is the most depressed country or territory. Technically,

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<v Speaker 1>there's more depression in high income countries than in middle

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<v Speaker 1>income countries. In different cultures, factors like never having been

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<v Speaker 1>married or having a low level of education might make

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<v Speaker 1>you more likely to have depression or way less. All

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<v Speaker 1>of this speaks to how complex depression is. Science still

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't know exactly how it works, though, as we have

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<v Speaker 1>said on the show before, researchers think it's a combination

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<v Speaker 1>of genetics, biochemistry, psychology, and environmental factors like stressors, which

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<v Speaker 1>can vary from culture to culture. And part of the

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<v Speaker 1>issue is how we trap depression. You can look at

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<v Speaker 1>actual medical diagnoses, but that doesn't cover people who never

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<v Speaker 1>see a doctor if a doctor is even available. Around

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<v Speaker 1>the world, it's estimated that less than twenty five percent

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<v Speaker 1>of people with depression have access to proper care. You

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<v Speaker 1>can look at surveys, but you have to take into

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<v Speaker 1>consideration what questions were being asked based on which diagnostic criteria.

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<v Speaker 1>A science is updating its considerations about depression all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>You also have to trust that the people who were

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<v Speaker 1>surveyed were being honest. Researchers make best guess estimates based

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<v Speaker 1>on available data. But okay, what if we narrow our

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<v Speaker 1>question of how common depression is down to the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>because that's where brain stuff is based. One great source

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<v Speaker 1>of data here is the National Survey on Drug Use

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<v Speaker 1>and Health, which is a large annual survey of tens

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<v Speaker 1>of thousands of Americans conducted by the US Substance Abuse

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<v Speaker 1>and Mental Health Services Administration. They then use that data

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<v Speaker 1>to extrapolate out to the general American population. As of

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty three, they found that eight point five percent

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<v Speaker 1>of adults ages eighteen and older had experienced at least

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<v Speaker 1>one episode of major depression in the past year. And okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I want to break that down by age group because

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<v Speaker 1>it is dark. In people ages fifteen older, only four

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<v Speaker 1>point five percent had had a major depressive episode. In

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<v Speaker 1>ages twenty six to forty nine years, it was ten

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<v Speaker 1>point two percent, and in ages eighteen to twenty five

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<v Speaker 1>years it was seventeen point five percent. And then they

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<v Speaker 1>also survey at adolescence. In adolescence ages twelve to seventeen years,

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<v Speaker 1>the rate was even higher, eighteen point one percent had

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<v Speaker 1>had at least one major depressive episode. That's a grand

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<v Speaker 1>estimated total of twenty six point one million people who

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<v Speaker 1>experienced clinical depression in the US in twenty twenty three.

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<v Speaker 1>But even this excellent survey may not be telling the

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<v Speaker 1>full story because it excludes people who are houseless, active

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<v Speaker 1>duty military personnel, and residents of institutions like jails and

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<v Speaker 1>nursing homes, people for whom depression is probably even more common. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>the survey is still relying on self reported symptoms and

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<v Speaker 1>humans are historically bad at self reporting symptoms of depression

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<v Speaker 1>because of the societal stigma against mental illnesses. For a

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<v Speaker 1>quick example of how this can play out, let's go

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<v Speaker 1>back to that statistic about the prevalence of depression in

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<v Speaker 1>women versus men. So women are about twice as likely

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<v Speaker 1>to experience depression, but we don't know why. Researchers are

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<v Speaker 1>studying a myriad of possible links, including hormones, genetics, and

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<v Speaker 1>other biological factors, but there are also psychosocial factors to consider.

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<v Speaker 1>One theory is that men are less likely to be

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<v Speaker 1>counted because they're less likely to seek help. While men

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<v Speaker 1>tend to be willing to admit to fatigue, irritability, changes

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<v Speaker 1>in sleep patterns, and a loss of interest in activities,

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<v Speaker 1>they typically don't share about feelings of sadness or worthlessness.

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<v Speaker 1>They're more likely than women to use alcohol or other

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<v Speaker 1>drugs to mask their feelings. Women, on the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>are more likely to acknowledge feelings of sadness, guilt, and worthlessness.

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<v Speaker 1>Stigma that is prejudice against mental illness is real. It

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<v Speaker 1>carries across cultures and has been going on for millennia.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite the fact that we now know that factors like

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<v Speaker 1>brain chemistry are at work in depression, there are still

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<v Speaker 1>prejudices that paint depression as weakness or shameful, and therefore

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<v Speaker 1>paint depressive behaviors as lazy or some kind of moral failure.

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<v Speaker 1>When people internalize the stigma, it can feed into those

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<v Speaker 1>feelings of sadness, emptiness, and irritability that mark depression in

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<v Speaker 1>the first place. This could make it even harder for

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<v Speaker 1>people with depression to seek help and to follow through

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<v Speaker 1>treatment and mental health maintenance. And although depression is highly treatable,

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<v Speaker 1>it's also not something that can be cured like a

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<v Speaker 1>simple infection. About fifty percent of people who experience one

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<v Speaker 1>episode of depression will experience a recurrence at some point

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<v Speaker 1>in their lives, and the more often they relapse, the

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<v Speaker 1>more likely they are to continue to do so. All

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<v Speaker 1>of these statistics and the question marks around them sound

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<v Speaker 1>a little depressing. Is there a measure of how completely

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<v Speaker 1>usual depression really is? If you're concerned about yourself for

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<v Speaker 1>a loved one, the first step is always to talk

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<v Speaker 1>to a healthcare professional, even a family doctor or online service,

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<v Speaker 1>to rule out other physical issues and get started with

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<v Speaker 1>a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Because symptoms and severity

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<v Speaker 1>are singular and individual that might involve medication, talk, therapy,

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<v Speaker 1>or a combination of both, with an eye on building

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<v Speaker 1>a sort of toolkit of awareness and management and lifestyle

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<v Speaker 1>strategies to carry with you into the future, no matter

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<v Speaker 1>how complicated it seems. Today's episode was written by me

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<v Speaker 1>with additional material from the article how depression Works on

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<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot Com, written by Maria TREMARKI brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com and is produced by Tyler Kuang. Four more

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