Depression
Depression is an illness that negatively affects the way a person thinks, feels and their ability to experience pleasure. As depression has different ‘trigger’ causes from hormones to physical illness, there are different types of depression. More than 80% of those suffering from depressive illness can be treated successfully with modern medications.
A depressive disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you think about things.
Depression is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years.
Depression affects many people of all ages and backgrounds. It is estimated that one in five people will suffer from depression at some point in their lives. Most people respond well to anti-depressant medication and talking therapies. Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) can be effective for those who are experiencing particularly severe depression, which is appearing to be resistant to medication.
Risk of harm
Major depression has been shown to be associated with increased mortality fairly consistently. Minor depression, on the other hand, has been linked with an increased death rate in some studies, but not in others.
This link between depression and mortality is well established for younger people but is inconclusive amongst elderly people. Some of the increase in mortality rate is due to suicide and other unnatural causes of death. However, to a lesser extent, studies have also reported excess mortality from natural causes - depressed people are known to be more likely to smoke, drink alcohol to excess, eat poorly and be relatively inactive as well as suffer from physical illnesses. These associated behaviours may be the reason behind part of the increase in rates of mortality.
Research shows that increased risk of mortality can be reduced in depressed people by high levels of support resulting in improvements in symptoms.
National Advice Service Factsheets
The information in this section is taken from the NAS factsheet, which you can download in pdf format and print for individual use (external link to Mental Health Shop):
Depression factsheet
