News Desk: As the depression is growing more in the developed and developing countries, India ranks the top as the most depressed country in the world. The WHO assumes that depression will be the second leading cause of disability by 2020.

According to a study based on the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative, around 9% of people have been found with depression within their lifetime in India. About 36% people suffered from “major depressive mode” (MDE), while China had 12%.


The study, ‘Cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV major depressive episode’ showed that the average lifetime rates of depression are 14.6 per cent in ten high income countries and 11.1 percent in eight low to middle income countries.


The percentage of MDE is higher in high-income countries at 28.1 percent, while 19.8 percent recorded in the low to middle income countries.


The symptoms like sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, low self-worth feelings, lack of sleep and loss appetite indicate that a person is suffering from depression.


While the society is growing fast in the field of industry and people are found more professional, they are also living in a state of depression. The study revealed that people in the wealthier countries are more depressed than people in the poor countries.


The study was conducted on interviews of nearly 90,000 subjects across 18 countries such as the US, China, Japan, India, Brazil, Mexico, Ukraine and Spain, Germany, Lebanon, Mexico, and South Africa with different income levels.


The study showed the links between social cause and depression. It found people are more depressed after being separated from their partners in high income countries, while in low to middle income countries, divorced or widowed are more depressed.


The study was published in the medical journal BMC (BioMed Central) Medicine.

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