Little known facts about depression

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, affecting about 10% of the adult population of the planet. Depression causes decreased self-esteem, loss of interest in life, impaired thinking and slowed movements. At the moment, depression is treatable, and the main areas of treatment are considered to be pharmacotherapy, social therapy and psychotherapy.

The main factors that accompany depression

• Emotional and sexual abuse, family problems or death of someone close, genetic predisposition
• Long-awaited positive events, such as marriage or receiving an inheritance, can lead to depression.
• More than 35% of people who suffer from depression have bad habits: smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, gambling.
• Women are 40% more likely to suffer from depression. Sexual addiction is associated with estrogens, which are present in the female body and can cause psychological problems.
• Lack of testosterone in the body also affects the development of depression. In this regard, men over 50 are more likely to suffer from mental disorders precisely because of the decrease in testosterone levels due to age.
• Recent studies have shown that people who suffer from depression have lower levels of bone density, which can lead to osteoporosis.
• People who become depressed after the death of a loved one are at risk of being left with a chronic mental disorder for many years.

Previously Unknown Facts About Depression

• Depression is most common in countries with highly developed economies.
• In the United States, more than 7% of children under 15 suffer from depression. Statistics show that the rates are increasing every year.
• People with mental disorders are more likely to get flu and colds than healthy people.
• People with depression are more likely to be hospitalized for heart attacks and circulatory disorders.
• Depending on the region, in the Middle Ages, mentally ill people were considered untouchable due to the protection of dark or light forces.
• The first psychiatric hospital was opened in the second half of the 18th century in the United States, in the state of Virginia.
• Sigmund Freud, a luminary of psychiatry, noted that depression is anger that is directed only at oneself.
• In childhood, depression can develop from a lack of attention and affection.
• More than 60% of mentally ill people refuse treatment and do not admit that they are ill.
• There are known cases where depression contributed to the development of malignant tumors.
• More than 6,000,000 people in the United States are hospitalized each year with symptoms of manic depression.
• Depression may make asthma attacks worse in children under 10 years old.
• During pregnancy, depressive disorder can cause premature birth and complications for the baby.
• Sociological surveys show that in families where parents suffer from depression, children become overly restless.
• Depression can cause rheumatoid arthritis to worsen.

Recent studies by American scientists have shown that more than 45% of elderly people with rheumatoid arthritis also suffer from depression and attacks of uncontrollable anxiety. Doctors noted that chronic and age-related diseases are often accompanied by a restless state, anxiety, which, with a lack of attention, leads to mental disorders. A study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) consisted of observing people over 50 years old suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Surveys and testimony from treating doctors showed that patients who were noted to have 2 and 3 degrees of depression, attacks of exacerbation of the disease were observed 2.5 times more often than in mentally healthy people.