All you wanted to know about Depression Major depression is the most common psychiatric complaint seen in clinical practice. Depression imparts significant morbidity. The functional impairment associated with depression is comparable to or worse than that associated with chronic medical illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, or arthritis. Relationships with family members, employers, coworkers, friends, and classmates often are adversely affected by depression.
Untreated depression can also be devastating in terms of associated mortality.
About 18,000 patients with depression die annually in the United States. Criteria for identifying patients with major depression have been standardized by the American Psychiatric Association. The accurate and timely diagnosis of depression is complicated by the reluctance of patients to seek help because of the stigma associated with psychiatric illness and by the nature of their complaints, which often may be thought to have medical origin. Although a depressed mood is common immediately after bereavement, up to half of widows and widowers meet the clinical criteria for depression 1 year later and could benefit from therapy. Childbirth also can precipitate depression.