The cases of depression are rapidly growing in India with more than 5 crore people suffering from the disorder – the highest in Southeast Asia and Western Pacific region including China. A fresh report by the UN health agency WHO also suggest that China and India are certainly the worst affected nations, accounting for almost 50 per cent of the total 322 million people living with depression across the world.
The data also shows that the total estimated number of people living with depression worldwide augmented by 18.4 per cent between 2005 and 2015. Excluding depression, the other key reason for suicides in India and other middle-income nations is anxiety. It is rampant in both India as well as China.
Over 3 crore people suffer from anxiety disorders in India alone, as per the new WHO’s global health estimates. Notably, almost 3.8 crore people in the country suffered from anxiety disorders in 2015, with a frequency rate of 3 per cent.
The WHO data also presents that 78 per cent of global suicides happened in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, suicide accounted for close to 1.5 per cent of all deaths that makes it among the top 20 prominent causes of death in 2015.
According to a WHO report published in 2014, India accounted for the highest estimated number of suicides in the world in 2012. If we see gender wise, both depression and anxiety are more common in women than in men.
The statistics were part of a WHO report called ‘Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders – Global Health Estimates’. Depression is also the main cause of disability globally, and is a key contributor to the overall burden of disease, said the WHO.
Significantly, the Rajya Sabha in August last year passed the Mental Health Care Bill 2013. The bill offers protection and promotion of rights of persons with mental illness. The health ministry also introduces a National Mental Health Policy in 2014. It aims to lessen the treatment gap by offering universal access to mental health care through funding and human resources.
