What is the issue?
According to new estimates by the WHO, depression is the largest disability worldwide.
What is a Depressive disorder?
- Depressive disorders is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of low mood that is present across most situations.
- It is often accompanied by low self-esteem, disturbed sleep, loss of interest, poor concentration, and pain without a clear cause.
- Such disorders include two main sub-categories: major depressive disorders, which involve symptoms such as depressed mood; and
- Dysthymia, a persistent or chronic form of mild depression but it tend to be less intense and last longer.
What is an Anxiety disorder?
- Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders characterized by feelings of anxiety and fear.
- Anxiety is a worry about future events and fear is a reaction to current events.
- The cause of anxiety disorders is a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
- Generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, all comes under Anxiety disorders.
What are the facts?
- The number of people living with depression has increased by approximately 18% between 2005 and 2015.
- Over 80% of the disease burden is in developing countries.
- 1 in 20 people in the world have depression and it has a high level of impairment or disability associated with it.
- In India, nearly 5% of population is dealing with depression and a further 3% is dealing with stress related disorders.
- In terms of lost health, the consequences are colossal.
- At its most severe state, depression can lead to suicide. Depression is the major contributor to suicidal deaths.
- Suicide accounted for almost 1.5% of all deaths worldwide in 2015.
What is the major worry?
- Even though, there are known and effective treatments for depression, fewer than half of those affected in the world receive such treatments (in many countries, fewer than 10%).
- Barriers to effective care include lack of resources, dearth of trained health-care providers, and social stigma associated with mental disorders.
- Ex: India has less than 4,000 psychiatrists to treat its mentally ill people.
- The WHO report also said that inaccurate assessment was another barrier to effective mental health care.
- People who are depressed are often not correctly diagnosed, and others who do not have the disorder are too often misdiagnosed and prescribed anti-depressants.
Source: The Hindu, TOI
