Indians most depressed: WHO report

Indians are a depressed lot: Report

Kounteya Sinha, TNN Jul 27 World Health Organization

According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization, India has the highest rate of major depression in the world.

It was found that in India, around 9% of people have been reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime and nearly 36% suffered from “major depressive mode” (MDE). The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years a compared to 18.8 years in China.

MDE is a phenomenon characterised by symptoms like sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, guilt or low self-worth feelings, disturbed sleep or loss of appetite etc.

The study also signified that people living in wealthier nations are more depressed than those in relatively poorer ones as the average percentage of MDE was higher in high-income (28.1%) than in low to middle-income (19.8%) countries.

Indians are among the world's most depressed. According to a World Health Organization-sponsored study, while around 9% of people in India reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime, nearly 36% suffered from what is called Major Depressive Episode (MDE).

MDE is characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration, besides feeling depressed.

Lowest prevalence of MDE was in China (12%). The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years compared to 18.8 years in China, and 22.7 years in the US.

Health Ministry seeks details of WHO survey

 

The Health Ministry has sought details of the WHO-sponsored World Mental Health Survey Initiative, which has come out with the finding that India has the highest rate of major depression in the world.

Health Ministry officials maintained silence on the survey findings, saying they would respond only after studying the survey findings.

"We are seeking details of the survey findings and studying them and will respond accordingly," Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, R K Srivastava told PTI.

The study, "cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV major depressive episode", based on interviews of about 90,000 people across 18 countries with different income levels, had come out with the finding that India had the highest rate of depressed persons in the world.''

The WHO-sponsored study, published in BMC Medicine Journal, has found that Indians are the world''s most depressed people with nearly 36% suffering from Major Depressive Episode (MDE), the cluster of symptoms of depression.

Indians are the world's most depressed people with nearly 36 per cent suffering from Major Depressive Episode (MDE), the cluster of symptoms of depression, according to a WHO-sponsored study.

The study found that people living in wealthier nations like Netherlands, France and the US were less happy and more depressed than those in poorer ones.

Netherlands with an average 33.6 per cent case of MDE came second while France and US were placed on third and fourth positions with 32.3 per cent and 30.9 per cent cases respectively.

In India, around 9 per cent of people reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime and nearly 36 per cent suffered from MDE.

The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years compared to 18.8 years in China, and 22.7 years in the US.

The study, published in the BMC Medicine journal, is based on interviews of more than 89,000 people in 18 different countries.

One in seven people (15 per cent) in high-income countries is likely to get depression over their lifetime, compared with one in nine (11 per cent) in middle and low-income countries, the study says.

MDE is characterised by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration, besides feeling depressed.

WHO ranks depression as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide and projects that by 2020, it will be the second leading cause.

Women are twice as likely to suffer depression as men and the loss of a partner, whether from death or divorce, was a main factor, the study reveals.

Depression affects over 120 million people worldwide. It can interfere with a person's ability to work, make relationships difficult, and destroy quality of life. In severe cases it leads to suicide, causing 850,000 deaths a year.