Women are significantly more likely to develop depression, especially during hormonal shifts like pregnancy/postpartum, and factors like genetics, stress (abuse, loss, finances), personality (pessimism, low self-esteem), chronic illness, substance abuse, and certain life circumstances (unemployment, lack of insurance, isolation) increase risk for anyone, with teens/young adults often first affected.
Women are more likely to have depression than men. An estimated 4% of the population experience depression, including 5.7% of adults (4.6% among men and 6.9% among women), and 5.9% of adults aged 70 years and older.
Women consistently report more depressive symptoms than men, while adolescents, young adults, and older adults tend to experience more depressive symptoms than their middle-aged adult counterparts [9–10].
The age-standardized prevalence of depression among U.S. adults was 18.5% (crude = 18.4%) (Table 1). Age-specific prevalence of depression was highest among those aged 18–24 years (21.5%) and lowest among those aged ≥65 years (14.2%).
Women are more likely than men and younger adults are more likely than older adults to experience depression.
At What Age Is Depression Most Common? According to CDC data from 2019, 21% of adults experiencing any depressive symptoms in the most recent two weeks were between 18 and 29 years old. This incidence is the largest among all adult age groups.
There's no single cause of depression. It can occur for a variety of reasons and it has many different triggers. For some people, an upsetting or stressful life event, such as bereavement, divorce, illness, redundancy and job or money worries, can be the cause.
While depression can arise in any job or career, research has shown that some of the most depressing careers include social workers, disability lawyers, long-term care administrators and nurses, mental health counsellors, and first responders.
This page covers some possible causes of depression:
New evidence shows that people who maintain a range of healthy habits, from good sleep to physical activity to strong social connections, are significantly less likely to experience depression.
People high in neuroticism (very emotionally sensitive) and introverts are two personality types more likely to experience negative thoughts research finds. In addition, being introverted is linked to spontaneously remembering more negative life events.
Unhappiness is hill-shaped in age and the average age where the maximum occurs is 49 with or without controls. There is an unhappiness curve. I document hump or hill shapes in age in various measures of unhappiness in many countries including the United States and the United Kingdom.
The good news is that with the right treatment and support, most people with depression can make a full recovery. These pages are about depression in adults. Read about depression in children and young people.
Elitist big jumps upwards—rapid rises in status or wealth—can lead to feelings of detachment from former selves and a loss of self-worth. This disconnect can cause successful individuals to struggle with their identity, leading to mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.
Here are the five main causes:
Women are nearly twice as likely to suffer from major depression than men. However, men and women are equally likely to develop bipolar disorder. While major depression can develop at any age, the average age at onset is the mid-20s.
The predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating, and protective factors framework, referred to as the “4Ps,” is used in medicine for organizing contributing factors in a clinical case and to communicate illness and risks with patients (22) (see Table 1).
A synthesis of the existing literature leads us to conclude that people with greater depressive symptoms are more likely to create difficult social situations, have worse interactions, and preferentially direct their attention to negative emotional social stimuli.
Considerable evidence links the “Big Five” personality traits (neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness) with depression.
Job Satisfaction
The least satisfying dozen jobs are mostly low-skill, manual and service occupations, especially involving customer service and food/beverage preparation and serving. Well, many of these people have good reasons for dissatisfaction.
Among the top ten are several health care related occupations:
9 High-Income Careers With Low Employee Stress Levels
The studies vary, but Kristinsson says all show that patients with MDD have both structural and functional brain differences. “The amount of atrophy, or shrinkage, in the hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex is related to the severity and length of the episode of depression.”
What were the major causes of the Great Depression? Among the suggested causes of the Great Depression are: the stock market crash of 1929; the collapse of world trade due to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff; government policies; bank failures and panics; and the collapse of the money supply.
Clinical depression is the more-severe form of depression, also known as major depression or major depressive disorder.