In a given year, more than 18 million American adults – nearly 10 percent of the adult population – will suffer from a depressive illness.
So odds are good that you, a relative, or a co-worker has or will experience depression – and the cost of depression. Consider these stats…
- Depression is the leading cause of disability in men and women.
- Depression causes an estimated 200 million lost workdays a year – which costs employers $17 to $44 billion.
- During the two years leading up to a diagnosis, the total excess health care costs and absence-from-work costs for people with undiagnosed depression is about $3,386 per person.
- Suicide kills about 37,000 people a year in the U.S. – that’s more than the number of car crash deaths.
- The cost of depression to society is an estimated $70 to $80 billion a year in the U.S.
While two-thirds of depressed people don’t seek help, 80 percent of those who do improve their lives significantly – which is why we’re informing you today is National Depression Screening Day. So check out these free self-assessments if you or a loved one is among that two-thirds:
- From the nonprofit Screening for Mental Health, which founded this “holiday”
- From the Mayo Clinic
As these famous survivors of depression prove, the illness can affect anyone, comes in various forms, and has various causes – but doesn’t have to disable you.
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1. Buzz Aldrin
Retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin struggled with depression and alcoholism after walking on the moon with Apollo 11.
“When I felt the paralyzing gloom coming on, I’d begin to drink heavily,” he wrote in his book “Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home From the Moon.” “The situation progressed into depressive-alcoholic binges in which I would withdraw like a hermit into my apartment.”
2. Terry Bradshaw
Former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw was diagnosed with clinical depression and put on the antidepressant Paxil CR about 12 years ago.
“Depression is a physical illness,” he said in a USA Today article. “When you’re clinically depressed the serotonin in your brain is out of balance… So I take medication to get that proper balance back.”
3. Lawton Chiles
Former U.S. senator and Florida governor Lawton Chiles – who never lost an election – was treated for depression with Prozac after retiring from the Senate in 1989.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider