US depression rates hit record highs

Twenty-nine percent of Americans have been clinically depressed at some point in their lifetime, and 17.8 percent are currently either suffering from or being treated for depression, according to Gallup. Both figures are new highs.

In 2015, when Gallup began measuring depression using its current form of data collection, those rates were about 10 percentage points lower and seven percentage points lower, respectively.

Women have historically experienced higher rates of depression than men, and that gap has only widened in recent years, Gallup said. Current rates are 36.7 percent for women, and 20.4 percent for men, with the depression rate for women rising nearly twice as fast as men since 2017.

Those aged 18 to 29, and 30 to 44, have much higher depression diagnosis rates — 34.3 percent and 34.9 percent, respectively — in their lifetime than those older than 44, Gallup said. Women and adults 18 to 29 have the highest rates of current depression or treatment for depression, and those two groups plus adults 30 to 44 have the fastest-rising rates compared with 2017 figures.

Fast-climbing lifetime depression rates among Black and Hispanic adults have now surpassed those of white adults, who have historically reported slightly higher rates of both lifetime and current depression, Gallup said.

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