Study: Depression sufferers stop medication too soon

These days people are more likely to seek treatment for depression.

The bad news: Many don't receive adequate treatment.

According to Harvard Medical School researchers, only 47 percent of depressed patients in a new study were receiving proper care. Patients stopped taking antidepressants because of side effects or because they didn't see quick results. (It takes two or three weeks for these drugs to work properly.)

Researchers said improperly treated depression has a high social cost.

About 6.6 percent of Americans suffer major depression each year, or 13 million to 14 million people. Some time during their life, 16.2 percent of adults suffer depression.

The annual cost to employers for absenteeism and other loss of productivity is estimated at $44 billion, more than $31 billion more than such costs for workers who aren't depressed, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.