The average
Depression can affect people of any age, including children. Although children naturally have mood swings as they grow and develop, depression is different. The disorder can affect how children interact with friends and family.
Women are more likely to have depression than men. An estimated 3.8% of the population experience depression, including 5% of adults (4% among men and 6% among women), and 5.7% of adults older than 60 years. Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression (1).
Depression is a true and treatable medical condition, not a normal part of aging. However older adults are at an increased risk for experiencing depression.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an “older adult” as someone who is at least 60 years old. Many states may also have different definitions of “elderly” when determining what resources are available in cases of elder abuse, although most states commonly use 65 years of age as the cut-off.
Financial stresses, moving cities, new jobs, and relationship changes are all quite common in young adulthood and can contribute to mental health struggles. Social stressors – Growing into adulthood may change the way your social life looks as compared to adolescence.
The vast majority of mental disorders diagnosed in adulthood show a peak age of onset before 18, and other disorders carry across from childhood/adolescence well into adulthood.
What age is stress most common? According to the American Psychological Association (APA), people in the 18-33 age group suffer the highest levels of stress in the U.S.
While the most common age of onset is in the late 20s and early 30s, depression can affect children, adolescents and even seniors. (Aging often comes with medical conditions and other stressors that are linked to depression.)
For some people, a negative, stressful, or unhappy family life can lead to depression. Other high-stress living situations — like poverty, homelessness, or violence — can lead to it, too. Dealing with bullying, harassment, or peer pressure also leaves some people feeling alone or anxious.
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression. Depression can occur at any age. Some mood changes and depressed feelings occur with normal hormonal changes. But hormonal changes alone don't cause depression.
So much so, that new research has found that it actually is the most stressful period of our lives. This means the new study throws the idea of a 'mid-life crisis' out the window. Instead, it suggests those aged 20-30 actually experience the highest levels of stress.
According to Cigna International Health's 2023 survey of almost 12,000 workers around the world, 91% of 18-to-24-year-olds report being stressed – compared to 84% on average. Research indicates Gen Z are emerging as the most stressed demographic in the workplace, and struggling mightily to cope.
The most common mental illnesses in Australia are Anxiety Disorders, Affective Disorders (such as Depression) and Substance use disorders (ABS 2022a).
In most people with schizophrenia, symptoms generally start in the mid- to late 20s, though it can start later, up to the mid-30s. Schizophrenia is considered early onset when it starts before the age of 18. Onset of schizophrenia in children younger than age 13 is extremely rare.
By all accounts, serious mental illnesses include “schizophrenia-spectrum disorders,” “severe bipolar disorder,” and “severe major depression” as specifically and narrowly defined in DSM. People with those disorders comprise the bulk of those with serious mental illness.
Heritability is probably 40-50%, and might be higher for severe depression. This could mean that in most cases of depression, around 50% of the cause is genetic, and around 50% is unrelated to genes (psychological or physical factors).
Learning to balance life's positive experiences and emotions with the unhappy ones is an important part of growing up, but some children find this to be a struggle. An estimated 3.2 percent of American children and adolescents have diagnosed depression.
Struggles with health, education, relationships, finances and job security have led to or compounded mental health issues significantly. Studies show that while 56% of millennials reported good mental health, Gen Z fared much worse with only 45%.
The United States' older adult population can thus, be divided into three life-stage subgroups: the young-old (approximately 65 to 74 years old), the middle-old (ages 75 to 84 years old), and the old-old (over age 85).
This report focuses on older Australians—generally those aged 65 and over, unless otherwise specified. For older Indigenous Australians, the age range 50 and over is used, reflecting the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and the lower proportion of Indigenous people aged 65 and over.
The age of 49 coincides with the generally accepted end of a woman's child-bearing years, but hardly with the end of life and exposure to both opportunity and risk. Today, women over 49 account for nearly a quarter of the world's population. “Older women are us.