More than a quarter of people reported a lifetime diagnosis of depression in West Virginia in 2020, shocking new study has revealed.
The state is the most depressed compared to the least, Hawaii, where only 12.7 percent of the population reported being diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives.
The alarming data, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows the wide geographic disparity for depression among American adults.
Researchers believe that depression is higher in states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Alabama because of the prevalence of other chronic diseases such as diabetes and other social factors, including poverty.
Compiled of nearly 400,000 adults across the 50 states, the study found that a total of 18.4 percent of American adults had been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives.
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“There was significant geographic variation in the prevalence of depression, with the highest state and county estimates of depression observed along the Appalachian and southern Mississippi Valley regions,” researchers wrote in the report.
The researchers said they hoped the new data would “help decision makers allocate resources to areas where the need is greatest.”
In Kentucky, one in four respondents said they had been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives.
Similarly, more than 24 percent of those surveyed in Tennessee reported a lifetime diagnosis of depression.
The researchers suggested that the geographic variation could be partly explained by the prevalence of other chronic diseases.
Chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular disease are highly concentrated in the Appalachians, where depression is also common.
They argue that depression is a comorbidity for these diseases and therefore high levels of depression are related to their presence in the region.
Other social factors have also been cited as an explanation for high levels of depression.
24 percent of women, compared to only 13 percent of men, reported experiencing depression
The study found that a total of 18.4 percent of American adults had been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives
Adults in the Appalachians tend to have lower incomes, higher poverty rates and lower levels of education, all of which can negatively impact health and well-being, according to the study.
The results also showed that levels of depression were higher in women, younger adults and adults with lower levels of education.
24 percent of women, compared to only 13 percent of men, reported experiencing depression.
The statistics were also higher among adults with less than a high school education, 21 percent, compared to adults with a high school education or equivalent, 18.5 percent. Those with college degrees fared best, with 15.4 percent reporting a diagnosis.
Other recent reports have shown a jump in Americans reporting lifetime depression diagnoses in recent years.
Gallup reported in May that 29 percent of Americans had been diagnosed with depression at some point, which was nearly 10 percent more than in 2015.
“The fact that Americans are more depressed and having a harder time after this time of incredible stress and isolation is perhaps not surprising,” said Dr. Rebecca Brendel, president of the American Psychiatric Association.
“There are lingering effects on our health, especially our mental health, from the past three years that have distorted everything we knew,” added Brendel, who was not involved in the CDC study.