The risk of falling ill of depression by every single human during his lifetime is about 20%. According to scientists, it is conditioned by urbanization, great number of stressors, which awaiting modern person quite all around, migration and other social trends of our society.
It must be stressed that the appearance and development of depression entails a number of ill effects, both from medical and social point of view.
Depression, like any other mental illness is connected with a risk of suicide – one of the most tragic outcomes, leading to premature death 15% of patients suffering from depression. Depression seriously affects the quality of life and person’s adaptive capacities, breaking the habitual way of life. The capacity for work is reducing, that can lead to loss of work, it forced change and, finally, to complete disability.
The frequency of development of depressive syndrome in the general medicine (studied by the contingent of patients seeking treatment at clinics) is 22-33% and exceeds the frequency of such common diseases like essential hypertension. Appeared once, depression makes heavier manifestations, exacerbates clinical course, worsens the prognosis of corporal infirmity and complicates its treatment. On the other hand somatic illness, such as hypothyroidism, coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis of brain vessels, etc. may cause depression. And finally, the defeat of internal organs (cancer, myocardial infarction) may be the mental trauma, causes depression experiences.
Prompt diagnosis of depressive disorders in many cases has become crucial for the success of medical care, therefore undue mental disorders should not be underestimated, even if depressive symptomatology may be interpreted as a psychologically understandable. A doctor can fall into such snare, for example, by depressions, considered as “little things of life“. This is especially true by examining of elderly people whose depressive disorders can be interpreted as a sign of “natural” tired, or by among young people in the parting, treason, bereavement, etc., so when depression is adopted like “adequate” response to life’s turmoil. In any of these cases the counseling and support from professionals are really required.
Tags: atherosclerosis, hypothyroidism, mental disorders, suicidal