Depression is very common in the general population and even more common among people who have diabetes.
Depression is highly variable from person to person, and it ranges from very mild to very severe.
The main risk of depression is suicide. The prevalence of depression in industrialized countries is high and getting higher. With the present economic crisis, my personal impression is that the prevalence is even higher in the general population. Depression is very common among people who have diabetes. The data we have so far is from comparisons between people with diabetes and normal controls.