In terms of human suffering, the consequences of untreated depression are beyond measure.
Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among children and adolescents.
Urgent Attention Is Required Two brief mentions of Affective Disorders in a national newspaper column stimulated almost 100,000 requests for further information. A network television program depicting Depressive Illness brought in 200,000 letters. Despite the severity, magnitude, and cost of this problem, expenditures on public information, professional education, and research are minuscule in comparison with the efforts made on behalf of other, oftentimes less prevalent, disorders.