It seems that 'young America' is in depression.

Despite being in one of the richest countries in the world, more than one in 20 Americans aged 12 and older are depressed, according to the latest statistics from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. And what's shocking is that depression has been found to be more common in women than men.

Of the people suffering from depression, 80 percent have reported some level of functional impairment, with 27 percent reporting that it's difficult to work, get things done at home, or get along with others because of the condition.

"Reflecting this high rate of functional impairment, almost two-thirds of the estimated USD 83 billion that depression cost the US in the year 2000 resulted from lowered productivity and workplace absenteeism," according to study authors Laura A Pratt and Debra J Brody.

In their survey, the authors culled data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from year 2005 to 2006, which comprised a nine-item screening tool asking about depressive symptoms during the past two weeks.

Pointing out the connection between poverty and depression, the survey report said more than one out of seven poor Americans had depression and that non-Hispanic black persons had higher rates of depression than non-Hispanic white persons.

Despite the availability of treatment and the fact that successful depression treatment enables people to return to the level of functioning they had before becoming depressed, only 39 percent of people with severe depression reported contacting a mental health professional in the past year, the survey report said.

While 39 percent of males and 22 percent of females reported at their depressive symptoms made it very or extremely difficult for them to work, get things done at home, get along with other people, more than one half of all persons with mild depressive symptoms also reported some difficulty in daily functioning, according to the findings.

It was also found that persons between 40 to 59 years of age had higher rates of depression than any other age group and that in the 18 to 39 and 40 to 59 age groups, those with income below the federal poverty level had higher rates of depression than those with higher income.