The proportion of the global population living with depression is estimated to be 322 million people—4.4% of the world’s population—according to a new report, “Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders: Global Health Estimates,” released by the World Health Organization. The report also includes data on anxiety disorders, which affect more than 260 million people—3.6% of the global population.
The prevalence of these common mental disorders is increasing, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, with many people experiencing both depression and anxiety disorders simultaneously. The report shows an an 18 per cent increase in the number of people living with depression between 2005 and 2015, with prevalence rates seem to peak in adults at around 60 years of age, but are also seen in teenagers.
When long-lasting and with moderate or severe intensity, depression may become a serious health condition leading, at its worst, to suicide. According to the report, some 800,000 people kill themselves every year, a significant number of them young adults between the ages of 15 and 29.
To reduce depression, the UN agency recommends effective school-based programmes and exercise regimes. Different psychological and psychosocial treatments were also noted in the report, which notes that health-care providers may offer behavioural activation, cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT], and interpersonal psychotherapy [IPT], or antidepressant medication (such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs] and tricyclic antidepressants [TCAs]).
Among the findings, however, the authors caution against using antidepressants to treat children or to quickly offer them to adolescents.
Some psychological treatment formats for consideration include individual and/or group face-to-face psychological treatments delivered by professionals and supervised lay therapists.
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