Depression: Did You Know? – Wayne C. Jones MD

Depression is not a feeling, but an actual change of activity in the brain that can be measured and seen on a PET scan
As many as 25% of women and 15% of men will be clinically depressed at some time in their life
Because depression is usually expressed in the doctor’s office as physical symptoms like fatigue, GI problems, pain, insomnia, it is often overlooked or misdiagnosed
Over 50% of untreated mild depression becomes full blown severe depression
As early as six months after birth, babies of depressed mothers show patterns of electrical activity in the brain that are completely different than babies of happy mothers
Traumatic events in childhood (divorce, death, etc.) can damage neurons in the brain, creating susceptibility to depression
Depression doubles the risk of having a heart attack and increases risk of death from a heart attack by 3 1/2 times
A mildly depressed person may be angry, irritable, stressed, overwhelmed, frazzled, have no fun, detached, unmotivated
Insomnia is often a key warning sign of stress overload. If left untreated it usually leads to more severe anxiety symptoms.