An Analysis on Danish Micro Data - School of Economics and ...

The introduction to depression contains its epidemiology, which analyzes the emergence, the
incidence and the course of the disease. 5 Furthermore the aetiology, which studies the cause of
depression, is described, and finally, the treatment of depression is dealt with.
1.2.1 Depression 6
Historically, mental disorders have been associated with stigma. Although attitudes towards the
mentally ill have been changing, there is still some stigma associated with it. A more stressful daily
life has also contributed to the increase in people suffering from a mental disorder.
Depression is a mental disorder where the patient’s mood is changed. The symptoms can vary from
patient to patient. There exist a lot of scales to classify mental disorders, which makes it difficult to
compare different studies of depression. 7 Among others the World Health Organization (WHO)
compiled a common disease classification, which is used for classifying mental disorders. It is
called ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, of which it is the 10 th revision) 8 . A person
can be diagnosed with a depressive episode if he or she has had certain symptoms, such as loss of
interest, loss of energy, feelings of guilt and sleep disturbances for at least two weeks. Furthermore
exclusion of organic aetiology is required. Organic aetiology can be a specific disease of the brain, a
medical disease or substance abuse that is related to symptoms of depression. 9 <strong>An</strong>yone can once in
a while suffer from the symptoms mentioned above, but this does not mean they suffer from a
depression. In case of a depression the symptoms last for at least two weeks, the person suffers from
at least two of the depressive core symptoms and at least two of the accompanying symptoms. The
course of the disease can be modified a lot by treatment, but still depression can be a lifelong
disease with recurring episodes.
Epidemiology
During the course of the last century, depression has evolved and now also strikes younger and
middle-aged people, where it before mainly occurred in the elderly population. But still people over
the age of 65 have an increased risk of developing a depression that is four times higher than the
rest of the population. According to Psykiatrifonden about 20 % of the Danish population will
5
Day Poulsen et al. (2004)
6
This section is based on Day Poulsen et al. (2004), a series of brochures by Psykiatrifonden, Berndt et al. (2002) and
Frank and McGuire (1999).
7
Day Poulsen et al. (2004)
8
Day Poulsen et al. (2004)
9
Day Poulsen et al. (2004)
5