According to a recent study by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and Harvard University, mental disorders account for 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability in established market economies worldwide. Many of them will be unnecessarily incapacitated for weeks or months because their illness is untreated. The onset of depression may be occurring earlier in life in people born in recent decades compared to the past. Depression is a frequent and serious complication of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cancer, but is very treatable.
Depression increases the risk of having a heart attack.
According to one recent study that covered a 13-year period, individuals with a history of major depression were four times as likely to suffer a heart attack compared to people without such a history. Major depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States and worldwide, according to a recent study by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and Harvard University. As many as 20 percent of people with manic-depressive illness die by suicide. Men and women are equally likely to develop manic-depressive illness. In 1996, approximately 31,000 people died from suicide in the United States.