Serious depression is an important public health problem.
More than 19 million adults in the United States will suffer from a depressive illness this year, and many will be unnecessarily incapacitated for weeks or months, because their illness goes untreated. The suffering of depressed people and their families is immeasurable. Depressive disorders are not the normal ups and downs that everyone experiences. They are illnesses that affect mood, body, behavior, and mind. Depressive disorders interfere with individual and family functioning.