What is Depression?
A short, informational guide to understanding the mental health disorder:
American Psychiatric Association. “What Is Depression? | APA.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Oct. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEGVmiudF-o.
Depression can affect anyone
Despite popular misconception, mental health disorders like depression do not discriminate. In fact, according to Mental Health America:
"Major depression is one of the most common mental illnesses, affecting more than 8% (21 million) of American adults each year" (Mental Health America, 2024).
- Title
- Gender
- Description
- While depression is about 50% more common among women than among men, it is estimated that 5.7% of adults older than 60 years, and 5% of total adults (4% among men and 6% among women) will experience depression according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2023).
- Title
- Age
- Description
- Estimates found that 5 million adolescents, aged 12 to 17 in the United States, had at least one major depressive episode. This number represented 20.1% of the U.S. population aged 12 to 17 in 2021 alone, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH, 2021).
- Title
- Race
- Description
- Individuals from any racial background can face mental health adversities. Yet, demographic reports find that "rates of treatment for major depression are lowest in Hispanic communities and lower in Black communities than in White communities" (BlueCross BlueShield, 2022).