economical burden of the depressive disorders on patient and society

objective: depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders which may cause disability and premature mortality. also coerces extra expenditures of depressed patients involved in the number of times referred to the physician, number of paraclinic checking , and the absent days from work or school throughout the year with those of the general population. method: one hundred depressed patients (67% female and 33% male) and 100 non-depressed (66% female and 34% male) who had equal demographic status such as age, educational level and occupation, were assessed by questionnaire. the statistical data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and t-test. findings: the findings indicate that the two groups were significantly different on the number of their referring to physicians (excluding psychiatric visits) and laboratory checkings also on the days not attending to their work or classes.