Posted by Toby on October 21, 1998, at 8:58:57
In reply to Re: mental illness?, posted by Jim on October 20, 1998, at 15:06:38
Depression is really a mental illness when it reaches a certain degree and when it causes a certain level of dysfuction in the person's life. When a person just doesn't want to deal with his/her problems, that's what therapy is for (the"worried well"). Medications won't do a thing in the world for that. True depression can be inherited, and can occur from a combination of stress plus a predisposition to the illness. It is a disturbance in the chemicals that regulate mood and biological functions. It affects sleep, life becomes uninteresting, causes inappropriate guilt, lowered energy, poor concentration, change in appetite, and sometimes recurrent thoughts of death. It is a true medical illness and can occur once or many times in a person's life.
The stats on depression: Lifetime prevalence is 15% overall, as high as 25% in women. About 50% of all patients have their fist episode between the ages of 20 and 50, but recent studies indicate the incidence is increasing among kids (perhaps that's the genetic link showing itself). No difference in incidence between races, although it is underdiagnosed in blacks and Hispanics. More prevalent in single or divorced people. More common in rural than urban areas. No difference in incidence based on economic status.
poster:Toby
thread:921
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19981001/msgs/929.html