Depression: The Disorder and the Burden

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Byline: M. Reddy

Depression, the common psychological disorder, affects about 121 million people worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) states that depression is the leading cause of disability as measured by Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) and the fourth leading contributor to the global burden of disease. By the year 2020, depression is projected to reach second place in the ranking of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) calculated for all ages. Today, depression already is the second cause of DALYs in the age category 15-44 years.

Burden of Disease

An estimated 3-4% of India's 100 crore plus population suffers from major mental disorders and about 7-10% of the population suffers from minor depressive disorders. In the southeast Asian region, 11% of DALYs and 27% of YLDs are attributed to neuropsychiatric disease. A review of eight epidemiological studies on depression in South Asia shows that the prevalence in primary care was 26.3%. In the Goa study, the rate of depressive disorders was 46.5% in adult primary care attendees.

The above [Table 1] shows that disability due to depression exceeds disability due to all forms of cancer and diabetes mellitus combined, as well as exceeding the disability due to strokes and hypertensive heart diseases.{Table 1}

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study (GBD 1990 Study) launched by the WHO in the 1990s showed that Depressive disorders account for 3.7% of total DALYs …