Knowledge of depression

TESS

Depression is a widespread disease. In a survey conducted by Perlas, Tronco et. al  in the Philippines, about 5.3% of the participants were suffering from depression. If one were to use this figure to estimate the number of Filipinos currently suffering from depression, that number would be 4.7 million. The results of an international study that was conducted by the World Health Organization, on the other hand, showed that the prevalence rate of depression worldwide ranged from 2.6% to 29.5%.

Depression affects so many people that the vast majority of us have known or will know a person in the family, at work or in our circle of friends, who will develop a depression! Depression therefore concerns us all.

In this section you can get information about depression and the symptoms which accompany it. You can read about what triggers depression and about the different types of depression as well as about how the doctor distinguishes between them.

References:

http://www.census.gov.ph, Retrieved 28 December 2007

Perlas, A. P. (1995). Regional baseline survey on mental illnesses in the Philippines. PGH Research Journal, 1 (1): 26-27.

Ustun, T. B. & Sartorius, N. (Eds.). (1995). Mental Illness in General Health Care: An International Study. England: John Wiley & Sons.