Hi, I'm Essie Cup, and I've spent my career interviewing people about politics, presidential elections, and some really tough breaking news.

But now I need a break, and I think you do too.

So on my new podcast, Off the Cup,

I'll still be interviewing people,

usually famous and most likely my friends.

But about life, you know, the stuff that consumes us

when we're not consumed by politics?

So come join me every Wednesday for some conversational self-care.

Listen to Off the Cup on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite

shows.

Welcome to Brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

They hate you Brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here.

Just a heads up, our episode today deals with mental health and depression,

so if you're not up for that right now, take care of yourself, okay?

Okay? One of these symptoms of depression is feeling singularly lonely,

as though no one could understand how low you're feeling or that you're alone even

among friends or family. And to be fair, everyone's experiences on this planet are singular and individual, but depression is really pretty common.

But, answering the question of how common is it is really complicated.

First off, by depression, I mean feelings of sadness, emptiness or irritability that affect one's capacity to function. On a global scale it's estimated that somewhere

between 3.8% and 4.4% of human beings experience depression.

Something like 300 million people, give or take a few dozen million.

And I know, that is an infuriatingly imprecise statistic, but depression can be difficult to put a finger on.

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