Feeling Sad Three Days A Month

Feeling blue? Americans reported spending an average of three days a month feeling "sad, blue or depressed," according to a government survey released Wednesday.

The survey also found that the more days a month people said they were sad, the more likely they were to take risks including not using seat belts or binge drinking, said Dr. Marc A. Safran, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention medical epidemiologist and psychiatrist.

The report stressed the "need for more attention to the relationship between how someone feels and the other elements of their health and riskier behavior," Safran said.

The telephone survey of 166,000 adults in 38 states between 1995 and 2000 is the first of its kind to examine how many Americans say they feel bad during the course of a month.

Women reported an extra day of feeling blue than men. Young adults felt the worst, with 18- to 19-year olds saying they were sad an average of 3.6 days a month. Young adults, between the ages of 20 and 24, said they were feeling down 3.4 days a month.

Those who were not physicially active, engaged in binge drinking, infrequently used their seat belts or smoked cigarettes had "substantially higher" rates of being "sad, blue or depressed" than those who did not engage in the CDC's so-called risky behaviors.

The CDC says having a "negative mood" makes it difficult for people to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors.

Because the data was self-reported, health officials do not know if the people who said they were sad or depressed actually were clinically depressed. But saying one feels depressed or sad is one symptom of depression, said Rosemarie Kobau, a CDC public health advisor.

Those who are troubled by other depression symptoms - including unexplained sadness, low energy, a lack of interest in life and other things once previously enjoyed - should seek a doctor for help, Kobau said.

"It's very important we properly diagnose mental disorders, which are very treatable," Safran said.