Depression by the Numbers

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We all get the blues every now and again - living in a country with seemingly six months of winter will do that to a population - but for some Canadians, depression is a serious clinical problem and an ongoing health concern. The proof is in the following statistics.

Giancarlo La Giorgia

Grave new world No. 2 Depression’s rank (second only to heart disease) as a leading cause of disability worldwide by 2020, according to the World Health Organization. National blues 8% Approximate proportion of adults in Canada who will experience major depression at some time during their lives.

Illustration: Bodhi Hill/iStockphoto

The worst partum

13% Proportion of new mothers who will experience postpartum depression, symptoms of which include sadness, irritability, sleep problems and mixed feelings about motherhood.

Weary workers

32 Average number of days in the previous year that depressed Canadian workers experienced symptoms leaving them either unable to function normally or totally unable to work.

Splitsville hurts

Six times Increased likelihood of depressive episodes among men within the first two years of a divorce or separation compared with men who remain married (likelihood for women, 3.5 times).

Time heals

75%-plus Proportion of Canadians who had reported having a depressive episode after a marital breakup who reported no further episodes after four years.

Misplaced stoicism

Fewer than one-third Proportion of Canadians with serious depression who seek help.

X versus Y

Double Compared with men, the number of women who suffer from major depression.

Missed diagnoses

20% Proportion of Canadian patients with depressive symptoms who are seen by primary-care physicians (nearly half of these leave the doctor’s office with their condition unrecognized).

Fatally sad

15% Proportion of those with significant depressive illness who take their own lives, accounting for 80% of all suicides.

Family ties

1.5 to three times Increased likelihood of a person’s developing a major depressive disorder if a first-degree biological relative has a mood disorder.

Get help

80% to 90% Proportion of people with major depression who can be treated successfully.