Dr. Miller points out some surprising facts about depression.

Although depression has often been labeled “the common cold” of mental illness, those who suffer from it find it nothing to sneeze at. It is a crippling illness which results in loss of income, higher separation and divorce rates, reduced social functioning, and more visits to health professionals. According to Dr. David A. Miller Ph.D., “… the consequences of depression can be severe, enduring, and pervasive, even after the clinical signs of depression have remitted.”

Dr. Miller reports that two-thirds of depressions go undetected and untreated, but spontaneous remission usually occurs within six to nine months. Fifteen per cent of depressed psychiatric patients become chronic depressives, and 25-30% of depressed patients do not respond to antidepressant treatment. Even those depressives who have been successfully treated with antidepressants will have relapse rates of 50-80%.

Some of the causes of depression can be a lack of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine, genetic predisposition, early childhood trauma, major life stressors (loss or failure in the interpersonal realm in the last 1-2 years), chronic life strains (bad work situation, marital discord, etc.), lack of social support, poor coping mechanisms, and trauma (war, natural disasters, etc.).

Depressives usually have personality traits that include such things as being dependent, very self-critical, perfectionistic, and having low self esteem and negativity. Cognitively, those who suffer from depression have increased self-focused attention, catastrophizing, feelings of helplessness, selective recalling of bad memories, and minimization of the positive. Dr. Miller comments, “In sum, depression is not caused by a single factor, but rather it is a multifaceted, heterogeneous set of disorders with multiple causes that interact in such a way as to initiate and maintain a depressive episode.”

The good news is that in recent years major research has advanced knowledge about depression, resulting in improved diagnosis and assessment. Also, there are new and more effective treatments for depression such as some of the more recent antidepressants and cognitive therapy. Even if all therapy fails, Dr. Miller points out that there is a naturally high spontaneous remission rate for depression.