Who Can Depression Affect?

As isolating as depression can be for someone suffering from it, the fact is they are not alone. Over 16% of Americans will have depression at some point in their lives. While it can affect anyone, depression can be more evident in certain age brackets as well as genders.

 

·        Elderly: Several factors can lead to an elderly person becoming depressed. Feelings that he or she has lost control of their lives and aren’t able to do what they once were as well as loosing friends and loved ones can bring on depression. Elderly people also have a tendency to become sick easily which can also be a factor of depression for them. Often time’s family members or even health care providers attribute signs of depression as normal aging characteristics partly because older people might have a tendency to not want to talk and open up about their feelings. This can result in the depression going untreated.

·        Women: If you are a woman you are twice as likely to suffer from depression as a man. Studies suggest this is due to hormonal changes in women brought about by puberty, pregnancy, menstruation, as well as menopause.

·        Men: While it is more likely for a woman to develop depression men are susceptible to the disease as well. Men however tend to deal with their depression by turning to alcohol or drugs to deal with the feelings. For these reasons depressed men are four times more likely to commit suicide than depressed women.

·        Teenagers: Being a teenager today is more stressful than ever before. Today’s teens are faced with many situations that most of us didn’t have to deal with until we were in college or older. Between the stresses of school, family, work, and social lives teens are very susceptible to depression.