Depression is a mental condition that has emotional repercussions. According to Webster’s dictionary depression is: a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal.

Depression is a condition that can affect anyone but also appears to ‘run in families’. There is some dispute as to whether that has a genetic component or is a learned behavior. In either case depression does appear to have a higher incidence in families where there is a member already diagnosed with depression.

Depression associated with aging has significant public health concerns because depression is one of the most common mental disorders experienced by older adults.

Adults, who are currently approaching retirement years and later adulthood, the baby boomer population, seem to have a higher rate of depression than other previous groups of retirees. This greater trend toward depression is the subject of debate and it isn’t clearly understood.

Depression associated with aging has a few other components not also found in depression in younger populations. Research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry September 2005 found that older adults who were diagnosed with depression had the same percentage of rates of remission as middle aged adults. However this population also had a higher rate of relapse.