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.
