Zeenews BureauNew Delhi: According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization, India has the highest rate of major depression in the world.
It was found that in India, around 9% of people have been reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime and nearly 36% suffered from “major depressive mode” (MDE). The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years a compared to 18.8 years in China.
MDE is a phenomenon characterised by symptoms like sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, guilt or low self-worth feelings, disturbed sleep or loss of appetite etc.
The study also signified that people living in wealthier nations are more depressed than those in relatively poorer ones as the average percentage of MDE was higher in high-income (28.1%) than in low to middle-income (19.8%) countries.
WHO ranks depression as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide and projects that by 2020, it will be the second leading cause.
The findings were published in BMC (BioMed Central) Medicine, a medical journal.