An excerpt from the eulogy I wrote for my brother's funeral:
For the past 4 years the rates of depression in adults in our country has been at 20%. That is over 40 million people. It also affects over 2 million children between the ages of 3 and 17, most being children in their teens. Depression affects 1 in 4 people with cancer, 1 in 4 stroke victims, 1 in 3 heart attack survivors, and 1 in 2 people with Parkinson's disease. It also affects 1 in 2 people with eating disorders, 1 in 3 people with diabetes, and 1 in 5 people with substance abuse disorders.
According to the World Health Organization depression is the leading cause of worldwide disability and a major global contributor to disease. Neuropsychiatric disorders are also the leading cause of disability in the United States with depression being the most common of these disabilities.
Mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, is now cited as the number two workplace concern among employees, second only to family issues.
Depression makes up an estimated 100 billion dollar impact on the U.S. economy per year included 44 billion dollars in annual lost productivity of U.S. workers.
For every 2 homicides committed in the United States, there are 3 suicides. The risk of suicide among people with untreated depression is 20%. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals aged 10 to 34 and the fourth leading cause among those aged 34 to 54. Between 2001 and 2017 the suicide rate in America has risen by 30% resulting 1.4 million suicide attempts with 47,511 deaths by suicide in 2019. That is an average of 130 people per day, 5 per hour, or 1 person every 12 minutes, needlessly solving temporary problems with permanent solutions that could have been prevented with proper support and resources.
