Anxiety and Depression - Just the Facts

When thinking about the anxiety and depression epidemic that has swept our nation in the last generation, it is important to lay out a couple of amazing facts that add to the urgency and importance of this matter before diving into the substance on how to solve it.

• On average, 1 in 10 people take a psychiatric drug to treat a mood disorder.

• Women in their 40’s and 50’s – 1 in 4 take a drug for clinical depression.

• In 2014, 30 million Americans were prescribed $12 billion worth of antidepressants.

• We’re spending more on antidepressants than the GDP of more than half of the world’s countries.

• 85% of ADHD drugs are used in the US.

• Women with diabetes were nearly 30% more likely to develop depression according to a 10-year study following more than 65,000 women (Archives of Internal Medicine, 2010). This was EVEN AFTER researchers took into account depression factors such as weight & lack of physical exercise.

• On top of that, women who took insulin were 53% more likely to develop depression.

• Obesity is correlated to a 55% increase in depression.

The multi-billion dollar psychotropic pharmaceutical industry is predicated on the idea that people will take a pill to treat symptoms, while the underlying disease is ignored.

Sources:

1) Lavelle, B., & Smock, P. J. (2012). Divorce and women's risk of health insurance loss. Journal of health and social behavior, 53(4), 413–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146512465758

2) Perlmutter, D. (2017). Brain maker: The power of gut microbes to heal and protect your brain - for life. Yellow Kite.