Depression

Major Depression affects 15% of Americans at some point during their lives, and 100 million people are affected on any given day. The age of onset is fairly evenly spread among people. The mean age is 40, but Depression can onset from childhood to seniors. It can come on suddenly in days, or build over years. Anxiety, phobias, panic and Dysthymia can predate it. On average, the course of Major Depression runs 3 to 9 months if untreated, and 85% cases resolve within 1 year. Over 1/2 of people who experience major depression only have one episode. With each successive episode, the patient has a 15% risk that their next episode will be a manic episode, changing their diagnosis to Bipolar Disorder. In the end, approximately 15-20% of those with major depression become chronically depressed. Approximately 15% of patients with major depression may commit suicide, as well, with men committing suicide at a rate 2 times as often as women.