Some interesting facts about depression:
Did you know that 1 in 5 Canadian adults over the age of 18 will suffer a mental disorder in their lives; with anxiety and depression being the most common.
Approximately 10% of the adult population, that is 2.5 million Canadians will have a depressive disorder in their lifetime.
A depressive disorder can affect anyone, at any age, and at any time.
A depressive episode is classified as mild, moderate or severe (acute).
The DSMMD-5 (Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and Canadian Mental Health Association identify a number of depressive disorders: major depressive disorder (including postpartum), dysthymia, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation, atypical depression, substance/medication induced depression, depression due to another medical condition, situation depression (stress response syndrome, formerly adjustment disorder), psychotic depression and bipolar depression.
The common feature of all these disorders is the presence of sad, empty or irritable mood, accompanied by somatic and cognitive changes that significantly affect the individual’s capacity to function. What differs among each disorder is the duration, timing or presumed etiology.
On average, most people with depression will have 4 to 5 relapses (less than 6mths after initial treatment) and/or episodes (6mths or longer after previous episode) during their lifetimes.
The most common treatments for depression: medication, psychotherapy, lifestyle changes.
Every person’s experience with and treatment for depression will be different and every changing.
(Canadian Mental Health Association, 2017)
www.cmha.ca