In the spring of 2020, a life-changing event occurred to all Americans.

COVID-19 had reached the United States and was about to change everything for everyone

and laid waste to our health care system, took countless numbers of lives, and more importantly,

reshape the way we think about public health.

One of the major consequences of that, amongst many, I should say, is the increased incidence

and prevalence of major depressive

disorder throughout the United States. In fact data in 2020 found the

prevalence of major depressive disorder was nearly one in 10 Americans and

almost one in five adolescents in young adults.

This was actually found in the Journal of Preventive Medicine and this data was actually from 2015 to 2020

and hadn't taken into account the effects of COVID-19 itself.

But since you're listening to this podcast,

you're probably a health care provider

or work as a health care professional,

and you know that after 2020,

the rates are much, much higher than 1 in 10 American.

And of course, the incidence of major depressive disorder is definitely on the rise, as is the prevalence of people living with major depression.

And when it comes to how much it affects the United States, well turns out that major depression can lead to almost $200 billion of costs

annually.

What that means is dollars lost from medical costs as well as workplace costs from lost

days of work.

So when I read that statistic, I realized this would be a great topic for this

...