Yet, there is no high-profile organization helping with research and treatment such as the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Diabetes Foundation, American Lung Association, to name but a few. Almost 20 percent of Americans have depression, most without knowing it. They just assume that they can't win, that their relationships are always trouble and that hopelessness, insomnia, chronic fatigue, and guilt are their lot in life. Research estimates that 10 percent of children will suffer a depressive episode before age 12, although as recently as 1980 it was thought that children did not suffer depression. In the past 25 years, while the general incidence of suicide has decreased, the rate of suicide for those between 15 and 19 has quadrupled.
Many alcoholics treat an underlying depression with alcohol.
Their depression makes sobriety doubly difficult. Many substance abuse treatment programs now refer their patients in recovery for treatment of depression. Procrastination is a hallmark of depression. The depressive puts things off until they seem insurmountable. This reinforces his feelings of self-blame and despair.