Depression tends to affect people in their prime working years and may last a lifetime if untreated. More than 80 percent of people with clinical depression can be successfully treated. With early recognition, intervention, and support, most employees can overcome clinical depression and pick up where they left off.

• Depression ranks among the top three workplace problems for employee assistance professionals, following only family crisis and stress.
• 3% of total short term disability days are due to depressive disorders and in 76% of those cases, the employee was female.
• In a study of First Chicago Corporations, depressive disorders accounted for more than half of all medical plan dollars paid for mental health problems. The amount for treatment of these claims was close to the amount spent on treatment for heart disease.