milies is diagnosed with depression. In any given year one in ten people will experience some of the many symptoms of depression. Mood disorders including mania account for more than ten percent of psychiatric hospitalizations each year. (Ainsworth 2000) Depression can effect any age, race, gender and religion. However, females are twice as likely as males to become depressed. The American Medical Association (AMA) believes this could be because women are more likely than men to seek medical treatment. And although depression usually begins to show in people's early twenties, it occurs most often in middle-aged to older-aged adults (Ainsworth 2000). But depression does not play favorites (Kim 1999). It will affect adolescents, young adults, men and women of all ages, and it will affect all racial, social, economic, and ethnic groups without prejudice.
             According to the fertile ground theory, heredity and environment together are the cause of depression. Environmental factors may include the loss of loved one, divorce, abuse, low socioeconomical class, and stress. (Ainsworth 2000) Depression can also be a very costly illness. According to the latest National Institutes of Health study on the cost of depression, reports of the estimated cost of depressive illness in the United States at between thirty-three and forty four million dollars per year.
             The diagnosis of depression is not quite as easy as diagnosising the flu or a broken arm. You can't tell someone has depression from a cough or sneeze. Although depression may have some physical symptoms, in many cases it takes much more work than what the eye can see. The diagnosis of depression usually is based on the reports of the sufferer about how he/she feels and observations about how they look and behave made by doctors and people who know them well. The symptoms of depression fall into to four categories: mood, cognitive, behavioral and physical. (Ainsworth 2000) People w...