It seems that one in five Americans will suffer from some form of depression during their lifetime and over one in twenty of Americans have a depressive disorder each year. Depression is actually one of the most common and most serious of mental health problems that faces us today. Often the person feels it is him or her to blame for the illness, although this is one of the biggest misperceptions of depression. Estimates of the cost range from 15 to 35 billion dollars a year and encompass the loss of time and productivity, personnel replacement, medical care, and loss of life. Depression is an illness in the same way as heart disease is an illness, and depression often affects the whole body, not just the mind.
Depression is the leading cause of alcoholism, drug abuse, and other similar addictions.
At least half of those who suffer from depression do not receive proper treatment and untreated depression is second to heart disease in causing lost work days in America. In additions, one-third of depressed people suffer from anxiety attacks that generally ease when the depression eases. An anxiety attack of intense fear for no apparent reason is a symptom of depression and it can includes other signs such as heart palpitations, dizziness, sweating, chest pains, and shortness of breath. People often feel guilty about being depressed and they believe they should be punished for their imagined mistakes or failures. It is most important to determine between true depression and the feelings of simply being sad, as in being in a sad mood.