Depression in rich countries is widespread

About 121 million people worldwide suffer from depression

26/07/2011

Around 121 million people worldwide suffer from depression, according to a comprehensive study by international scientists led by study leader Evelyn Bromet of the State University of New York in Stony Brook, USA. Depression is much more widespread in the richer countries, as in the developing and emerging countries, the researchers report in the journal „BMC Medicine“.

As part of their investigation, Evelyn Bromet's scientists interviewed more than 89,000 people from 18 different countries, capturing the subjects' personal health and their already-experiencing depression or major depressive episode (MDE). As a German scientist, Herbert Matschinger from the Institute of Social Medicine of the University of Leipzig was involved in the current study. One of the key findings is that the population in countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is suffering from depression much more frequently than people in the poorer countries. In addition, women are significantly more affected than men, report Bromet and colleagues in the journal „BMC Medicine“.

Increased risk of depression in rich countries
Around 121 million sufferers worldwide suffer from depression, with mental health problems being far more common in countries with high GDP per capita than in poorer nations, according to a recent international study on depressive illness. Study leader Evelyn Bromet of the State University of New York, together with a team of international scientists, interviewed nearly 90,000 people from eighteen different states with different income levels. The ten rich countries included in the study were Belgium, Germany, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA. The eight poorer middle and low income countries included Brazil, India, China, Mexico, South Africa and the Ukraine. Among the study participants from states with relatively high GDP, the risk of suffering at least one depression over the life course was 15 percent, whereas in the poorer countries the risk was only 11 percent, the researchers report. According to the scientists, 5.5 percent of the respondents in the richer countries suffered from depression in the year just prior to the current study.

Depressive episodes are more prevalent in rich countries
The differences seen in the diagnosed depression between the richer and poorer states have, according to the researchers, also confirmed in terms of depressive episodes (MDE, major depressive episode). An MDE is to be understood as a phase of life in which at least five out of nine criteria that point to a depression are met. These criteria include loss of self-confidence, lack of sleep and appetite, poor concentration and a recurring sense of sadness. Using questionnaires, the criteria of an MDE can be recorded relatively clearly, the scientists explained. According to the latest findings, depressive episodes were significantly more common among people in higher-GDP countries than those from lower-income countries. On average, 28 percent of subjects in rich countries suffered from MDE, whereas only 20 percent of low-income countries were affected. According to the researchers, the prevalence of depressive episodes among the population in France, the Netherlands and the USA was noticeably high, with more than 30 percent of respondents suffering from MDEs once in their lives. Extremely low was the spread of MDE in China, where only 12 percent respondents have already undergone a depressive episode, the researchers report. Overall, the MDE confirmed the differences detected in diagnosed depression between high-income and low-income nations

Women are twice as likely to be affected by depression as men
However, the study not only found differences between the richer and poorer countries in depression, but also showed some cross-cultural similarities. For example, women in both affluent and middle-income and low-income countries are twice as likely to suffer from depressive episodes or depression as men, researchers report. In addition, transnationally in all study participants the loss of the partner by separation, divorce or death is one of the main causes of depression, so another result of the current investigation. As part of the publication, Bromet stressed that „This is the first study to use a standardized method to compare depression and MDE across countries and cultures“ be. The researchers not only revealed international differences, but were also able to show, „Depression is a big problem in all regions of the world“, so the conclusion of the US researcher.

Depression Main cause of incapacity for work and early retirement
However, not only is the psychological burden on sufferers a serious problem requiring urgent therapeutic treatment, but the economic costs associated with depression are also becoming a growing challenge. As the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) announced in April, depression in Germany today already has the status of a widespread disease that causes direct and indirect costs of between EUR 15.5 and 22 billion. The mental health problems are the main cause of disability and early retirement, the RWI said. The director of the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Florian Holsboer, comes to a similar conclusion. Depression is already the main cause of incapacity for work and early retirement in Germany, with around four million Germans suffering from depression in Germany, according to Holsboer. Overall, about one in ten German sufferers in the course of his life at least once in depression, the director of the Max Planck Institute further. Holsboer considers the stress caused by work to be one of the main factors influencing the onset of depression. Both the high workload as well as the fear of job loss or Hartz 4 or the bad relationship with the employees (bullying) could be the cause of mental suffering in question. An often promising method to reduce the risk of depression is, according to the experts, for example, the avoidance of stress. At the same time, people at risk can reduce their personal sense of stress through relaxation exercises, autogenic training, tai chi or acupuncture with relatively simple measures and thus prevent the risk of depression or depressive episodes. However, such exercises do not eliminate the need to consult a specialist in persistent mental health problems. (Fp)

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Picture: Günter Havlena