Nevertheless, one third of all people seeing a psychiatrist are depressed. We will discuss this later. Depression is not only fairly common, it can be very serious. There are more suicides than murders. Even among teenagers, it is third only to accidents and homicides.
Suicide is so sad because it is a permanent , desperate solution to a temporary problem.
What a loss to the world if Lincoln had killed himself. What a blow to each family in which an unnecessary death occurs. My interest here is not so much with serious, disabling or suicidal depression, usually called Clinical or Major Depression . Most of us are or will be somewhat depressed or disappointed and could use self-help. Overall, depression costs the country more in treatment and lost work than heart disease.