Prevalence of Depression and Associated Factors among Secondary School Students in Ismailia City

Abstract

Depressive disorders were first recorded in the ancient Egyptian stories as sadness of the heart and wishes of death for more than one thousand years BC. Hippo crates (450 BC), used concepts of mania and melancholia to describe the mental disorders. Avicenna (1037), classified melancholia in to four types according to the disturbed mood of the person (Hamouda, 1990).

Knowledge of the prevalence of depression, it's impact and the risk factors associated with it can increase clinician's Sensitivity to the problem and enhance their ability to identify people who are suffering from depression (Bromberger and costello 1992).