FEELING SAD AND HOW OFTEN

During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt sad, blue or depressed? Three days is the average answer among Americans, according to a survey of 166,000 persons conducted by Rosemarie Robau and her colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and reported in Health and Quality of Life outcomes. Women reported one more sad day a month than men.

Young adults aged 18-24 years reported the highest number of sad days. People who exercised reported less than two sad days a month. Those who smoked reported more than five sad days a month.

The researchers interpreted their results to suggest that when people are sad or depressed, they tend to engage in unhealthy behaviour such as inactivity and cigarette smoking.