Major Depression

Major depression is a common and complex disorder of gene-environment interactions. It is estimated to affect 280 million people worldwide¹. Suicidality is a cardinal symptom of depression. Over 700,000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds. There are effective treatments for depression; however, more than 75% of people in low- and middle-income countries receive no treatment². Greenberg and colleagues reported estimates showing that the incremental economic burden of adults with depression in the US alone was $326 billion in 2018, 38 percent higher than in 2010. Moreover, the proportion of adults with depression who were treated remained stable over the past decade; this suggests that there are still substantial unmet treatment needs in this population³.

The aim of this Topical collection is to showcase progress in neurobiology, imaging, genetics, translational, clinical, therapeutic, and public health research on depression, with the goal of advancing knowledge that may ultimately decrease the burden of disease. The collection will include both solicited and submitted content, and authors can use all of our existing manuscript types.

1. Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx).  http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool?params=gbd-api-2019-permalink/d780dffbe8a381b25e1416884959e88b.
2. Evans-Lacko S, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Al-Hamzawi A, et al. Socio-economic variations in the mental health treatment gap for people with anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders: results from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys. Psychol Med. 2018; 48(9): 1560-1571. 
3. Greenberg PE, Fournier AA, Sisitsky T, Simes M, Berman R, Koenigsberg SH, Kessler RC. The economic burden of adults with major depressive disorder in the United States (2010 and 2018). Pharmacoeconomics 2021 Jun; 39(6): 653-665. doi: 10.1007/s40273-021-01019-4.