Why my neighbor is a jerk
I had a neighbor who was one of those people who knows everything. He told me, with great certainty, that only rich, white housewives get depressed. "Poor people," he stated with certainty, "don't have time to be depressed. They are too busy trying to survive.">
My neighbor is almost completely wrong. Men are only half as likely as women to be depressed, but there are still 3-4 million men who suffer from depression, along with about 8 million women. Women who are ethnic minorities, poor and on welfare are more likely to be depressed than women who are not poor. It is true that people who are unemployed are more likely to be depressed.
Of all racial and ethnic groups, the rate of suicide is highest among American Indians. The rate of suicide is twice as high among American Indians as whites. Among youth (aged 15-24) it is four times as high for American Indians as for whites. Interestingly, in Australia, the incidence of depression among the native people (Aboriginals) was also found to be higher than for whites.
Although depression is more common among minorities, members of minority groups are less likely to seek treatment for depression than are whites.
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Depression - what you can do to help |