If you suffer from depression, you are not alone, and we have the data to back that up. According to new data released by Blue Cross Blue Shield, depression diagnoses among their 41 million customers is on the rise. Major depression has risen to a diagnosis rate of 4.4% in the United States, which is more than 9 million people. Comparing data from 2013 to data from 2016, Blue Cross Blue Shield has seen an increase in depression diagnoses in every age category. The largest jump was in ages 12 to 17 with a 63% increase followed by ages 18 to 35 with a 47% increase.
It’s important to note the data only contains information from people insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield, so while it is a large data set, it is not necessarily representative of the population at large. Additionally, the increases could be due to more people coming forward with their symptoms rather than an increase in depression.
You can learn more about the findings from Women’s Health, or you can view the survey data directly on the Blue Cross Blue Shield website