Antidepressant prescribing has risen nearly 400% since
1988, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
More than 1 in 10 Americans over age 12 now take an antidepressant and yet
two-thirds of those with severe symptoms of depression do not take
antidepressants at all.
Depression is most prevalent in
people ages 45-64 and highest among Hispanic and African-American ethnicity.
Overall, women have higher rates of depression than men and are twice as likely
to have symptoms of depression as men of the same age. 1 in 10 women experience
depression in the first few weeks of having a baby.
An estimated 121 million people
around the world currently suffer from some form of depression. The US makes up
over 30% of the total results.
We are living in a world of unhappiness, which is not a contemporary
human condition—in fact, it is a mind disorder as ancient as man.
In ancient times, according to the Bible, King David of Israel was often mentally troubled, and he forever
battled against his deep despair. In many
of the Psalms, he expresses his
anguish, loneliness, fear of the enemy; his heart often cries over sin, and the
guilt because of it. Another Biblical example is Elijah, the great prophet, who was
often discouraged, weary, and afraid. Even after his great
spiritual victories over the prophets of Baal, this mighty man of God feared
and ran for his life into the desert, where he prayed. “I have had
enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my
ancestors.” (1 Kings
19:4)
Indeed, many of us
are vulnerable to this genetic mental disorder of unhappiness. To many, the
word “depression” may be synonymous with the word “unhappiness”; but the
reality is that happiness is not the absence of depression. So, even if you are
not depressed at all, you may still
be unhappy.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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