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ATLANTA, Jul 28, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- U.S. adults feel "sad, blue, or depressed" an average of three days a month and those reporting such down days also are more likely to smoke or skip the gym.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed 166,000 responses to the telephone survey question: "During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt sad, blue, or depressed?"
On average, women reported more days with depressive symptoms than men (3.5 days compared to 2.4 days). Young adults ages 18 to 24 reported the highest number of down days.
College graduates and those with household incomes over $50,000 experienced only two sad, blue, or depressed days out of every 30, compared with almost five days for those without a high school education and 6.1 days for those with household incomes of less than $15,000.
People who exercised and never smoked were less likely to be sad or feel the blues than those who did not exercise or who smoked more than one pack of cigarettes a day.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
