Adults who experience clinical depression may feel an oppressive sense of sadness, fatigue, and guilt. Depression is a very common emotional illness. In varying degrees of severity, it affects about 6 percent of all U.S. adults, more than nine million people in any given six month period, according to the American Psychiatric Association. At least one in five Americans will experience a major depressive episode during their lifetime, with women twice as likely to develop depression as men. Modern research has led to significant advances.
Today there are extremely effective treatments for depression.
Between 80 to 90 percent of those with depression can be successfully treated. Many experience relief from symptoms within three to six weeks. Stress resulting from the loss of a job, death of a family member, divorce, or ongoing health or family problems can trigger depression. Depression may also be tied to disturbances in the biochemicals that regulate mood and activity. These biochemicals, called neurotransmitters, are substances that carry impulses or messages between nerve cells in the brain.