Major depressive episodes far more common than previously believed, new Yale study finds

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/ysop-mde073020.php

News Release 30-Jul-2020
Yale School of Public Health


Major Depressive Episodes Far More Common than Previously Believed, New Study Finds

The number of adults in the United States who suffer from major depressive episodes at some point in their life is far higher than previously believed, a new study by the Yale School of Public Health finds.

National survey data currently shows that approximately 17% of women and 10% of men report having a history of major depressive episodes (MDEs) in their lifetimes. But these data are subject to "recall error," or the tendency of people to forget or misreport their health histories when taking a survey.

Researchers led by Jamie Tam, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, created a simulation model to generate corrected estimates of lifetime depression. They found that the proportion of U.S. adults who have had MDEs is actually closer to 30% of women and 17% of men after factoring in recall error.

"Major depressive episodes are far more common than we thought," said Tam. "Our model shows that the probability of someone having a first major depressive episode is especially high during adolescence. We also know from other research that having a first major depressive episode increases the likelihood you'll have a second one. This means that anything we can do to prevent or treat episodes among young people could lead to larger health benefits over the course of their life."

The findings are published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

A major depressive episode is defined as a period of two weeks or longer in which a person experiences feelings of intense sadness and hopelessness, fatigue, weight gain or weight loss, changes in sleeping habits, loss of interest in activities and thoughts of suicide or attempts at suicide. These persistent symptoms cannot be easily changed, even if they are contradictory to a person's circumstances. Depressive episodes typically recur periodically in people diagnosed with major depression.

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