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Depression costs the U.S.
$43.7 billion a year in medical expenses and lost
productivity, on a par with heart disease. About 17
million adult Americans suffer an incident of serious
depression every year; of these, 66% never receive
treatment; about 5 million experience major depression.
Of those patients hospitalized after a stroke, 50% have
depression and 90% are diagnosed as depressed 6 months
later.
For patients suffering
heart attacks, 15-20% experience depression afterwards;
30% of cancer patients have depression, as do 8.5%-27%
of patients with diabetes; and 25% of those with major
depression also have a substance abuse problem. An
estimated 290 million working days are lost each year to
depression, representing $11.7 billion in lost
productivity. Meanwhile, annual U.S. sales of
antidepressants amount to more than $3 billion.
SOURCES:
"Depression
Travels in Disguise with Other Illness,"
Warren E. Leary, The New York Times,
January 17, 1996
"Costs of Depression Are on a Par with Heart Disease, a
Study Says,"
Daniel Goleman, The New York Times,
December 3, 1993. |
