Depression Around The World: How Do Countries Stack Up?

If you're a woman living in the United States, you're six times more likely to be depressed than a man living in China, says a new study.

In the first cross-national survey of its kind, nearly 90,000 people in 18 countries were screened for major depressive episodes using a standardized set of questions. Researchers found that people living in wealthier nations are more likely to have experienced a depressive episode than those in low and middle-income countries. The study was conducted by researchers from the State University of Stony Brook as part of the WHO's World Mental Health Survey Initiative.

Nearly 15 percent of those living in the 10 rich nations reported having at least one depressive episode in their lifetime. For poorer countries, the prevalence of a depressive episode was only 11 percent. The two most depressed countries are France, with a 21 percent prevalence, and the U.S., with a 19 percent prevalence.

The researchers also went on to study the socioeconomic factors affecting depression. They found that regardless of location, women are almost twice as likely to experience depression. In wealthy nations, income levels are another predictor of depression: poor respondents carry double the risk of depression.

So what's causing this cross-national divide in depression levels? The study's researchers speculate that one reason could be the sharp income inequality in wealthy nations. Any other possible reason is the low level of awareness about mental illness in poorer countries. Or, say the researchers, it could be perhaps just be that depression is an illness of affluence.

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France: 21%

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One in five people in France reported having experienced at least one depressive episode in their lifetime.

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One in five people in France reported having experienced at least one depressive episode in their lifetime.

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Comments

[Corban]

10:38 PM on 08/05/2011

Depression runs in my family too and I also have it; I hate the term "suffering" from depression. I've had it all my life but have only really dealt with really hard depression recently: late 30's to 40. It's affected everything about me. One thing that I think should be looked at is brain development vs. age. The brain doesn't stop developing until about 23 on average. Anything that messes with that development at almost any time can cause neurological problems or exacerbate them down the road. I had a number of concussions (one really bad) when I was a kid and I think those played into what I deal with now. About 5 that I can clearly remember. They happened before I was a teenager, the really bad one happened when I was three. I wasn't abused or anything like that; never played a lot of contact sports. I was just a kid growing up in the 70's with concrete and steel playgrounds. I'm not a conspiracy theorist but I do question the kinds of food we eat and other things like fluoride in the water as well. I'm sure this plays into this in some form.

[Sara Mijares]

12:28 PM on 07/31/2011

Interesting article today on Depression Around The World: How Do Countries Stack Up? I was clicking on the photos of the the countries listing the percentages of how many people are depressed and the first photo I clicked is one that is dear to my heart the "Chac-Mool". This is an image that it is identified with Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican stone statue around the Tolted and Maya temples. This particular piece is in the Riviera Maya in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.Your article has it accidentaly listed as Japan. Here is a link for interested readers about Chac-Mool http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chac_Mool

On another note, I was surprised of the ranking of #1 for France. I recently visited France this past April, and maybe it was my excitement to be there, but I noticed the people to be friendly and easy going. Overall, I enjoyed the article. Thank you.

Sara Zapata-Mijares
Founder
Mundo Maya Foundation
Los Angeles, CA
[e-mail]

[ignacio sanabria]

11:00 AM on 07/31/2011

It is time to address depression for what it is. Not for correlated data that most of the time have little to do with the disorder. Depression is a neurobiological disease where most brain systems become dysfunctional. This brain dysfunctionality is what is very difficult to determine. Once this issue has been solved, the next step is to address the treatment. CBT helps, yes, indeed, but the priority is to alleviate the pesky symptoms.

[Lori Chaslot]

04:09 AM on 08/01/2011

Thank you for your comments. I am so grateful that you drew attention to the fact that depression is a neurobiological disease. The only thing I would add is that recent studies have shown that the dysfunctions are caused by neurodegeneration to the frontal lobe and hippocampus possibly by the decrease in serotonin and the increase of epinephrine.

I have lived with this disease for 6 years. It has done damage to my memory and my emotional responses. I have been on medication for 4 years and am currently struggling through CBT therapy. While CBT does have excellent tools, at the moment it seems that most of them fall into the category of "easier said than done."

[senorlou]

04:08 AM on 07/31/2011

Interesting, but I don't know how they handled this study.  I've suffered from depression all my life, take medication.  I was born that way - runs in my family.  I imagine the US is most depressed because most of us are not rich, and TV, pop culture, etc is all an obsession with wealth.  That doesn't help.  It could be the food we eat (mostly processed) the water we drink (not always non carcinogenic), and our social life or lack of one (we don't have extended families like in other countries).  Is it nature, nurture?  Probably both.

[Laserbeam]

12:45 PM on 07/30/2011

Being far from affluent for my entire life, I would say there isn't a correlation in my particular case. In fact, I live in poverty since I am a single mother too sick to work any longer who hasn't received child support in ten years now.

I have been depressed since the age of three. Unfortunately they didn't think children suffered from depression when I was a kid, so it wasn't addressed until I was much older. I'm very grateful for my anti-depressants - I feel suicidal rather quickly when I don't have them, though, and don't like that aspect. However, they keep me sane.

The author raises an interesting question about a possible lack of awareness of mental health in the poorer nations. Note also that the author states that POORER women are MORE LIKELY to be depressed - what does that mean in relation to the wealthier nations reporting more depression?

[bflythuy]

05:08 PM on 07/30/2011

I myself haven't stopped crying or being depressed since birth. I remember standing in the playground in first grade and watching all the children running around and having fun. At that moment I thought to myself, "I am never going to be like them- happy." Suicidal thoughts have come and go with medications being the only thing that helps me. Also having pets is very therapeutic.

With certain cultures, even in the US, people suffering from mental illnesses are ignored, stigmatized, are made to feel ashamed, lack treatment options and blamed for the way they are. From personal experiences, I can say that within the Vietnamese community this causes an affected person to withdrawn, self-medicate and worsen. Only then do the families wake up. And by that time, the person is already very ill or has other problems associated it. Very sad but I've see this happen so often. Depression including mental illnesses are under-reported. I think more cases of depressions are reported in wealthier countries because of the level of support, researches, education and treatment options available. This makes it more comfortable for people talk it.

[Laserbeam]

02:41 PM on 07/31/2011

Thuy, I'm so sorry about your depression. I relate to much of what you say. I have a couple of kitties who can definitely be therapeutic. I'm glad you've found medications that help you as well.

I agree with your other comments, too. There is a great stigma in many other cultures - I worked with people from all over the world who were interpreters. I learned so much from them about their cultures and illness, since we were working at a level one trauma center. Epilepsy can also carry stigma, as can HIV status.

I wish so much I could help you feel truly happy. I hope that things get better for you.

[the grange gorman]

08:01 AM on 07/29/2011

Maybe people in France/USa et al spend longer listening to the news(generally bad news) whereas in other countries people are either too busy working (japan ?) or barbecueing(australia ?)

[MrPragmatic]

12:16 AM on 07/30/2011

Of course the French are more depressed. Long hours dressed in black, smoking cigarettes while sitting in cafes pondering the existential meaning of life.That is very French. The French take great pleasure in their discontentment.

[ConfuciusSay-]

11:16 PM on 08/01/2011

Sounds awesome :-)

[bflythuy]

01:01 PM on 07/28/2011

I don't know how reliable the study could be. Each culture views mental illness differently. There are so many factors that can come into play. For me growing up it was poverty, generational gap, culture clash, high expectations with low emotional support, uneducated parents, abuse, neglect, no role model, a big family and the list goes on. I am Vietnamese and grew up having to mask my feelings and thoughts to survive. It wasn't safe to laugh, cry, get disappointed or depressed. Through this kind of environment I distrusted my own feelings as an adult. If you asked me how I feel today, I wouldn't know how to answer your question honestly. My parents addresses their friend's mentally ill son as "crazy". So I would probably say "I'm fine", like what most people would say, but body language says otherwise. I've been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline personality. I've lived in the US since I was 4 years old, maybe I need to move to China.

[Laserbeam]

12:58 PM on 07/30/2011

A thoughtful comment, and one that prompts me to wish you very well, my friend. Please don't go to China - sounds like we could use you here.

[bflythuy]

04:30 PM on 07/30/2011

Thank, that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me, let alone a stranger. It really means a lot. I appreciate it.

[Terry Phelan]

11:06 AM on 07/28/2011

How can we be sure there isn't some genetic component to the data? Is it possible that people of, say, French ancestry are more predisposed toward experiencing depression than those of, say, Chinese ancestry, regardless of economic condition? Another possibility is that depression may be more acceptable to exhibit in some societies, more stigmatized or taboo in others. The theory that wealth plays a role is by no means proved.

[zorrosmom54]

09:02 AM on 07/28/2011

I have a friend from China who tells me that the only mental disorder formally recognized by the medical community there is Schizophrenia. So....the results from that country might be considerably skewed.

[aqua0]

11:24 PM on 07/27/2011

This article clearly confirms that material comforts do not create happiness. The more you desire, the less happy you can be. Just being content with whatever you get, even if it's nothing, creates happiness.

[mykittywinks]

08:34 PM on 07/27/2011

Liberalism is a major form of depression. It just makes me sick just looking at their whining posts:-)

[Laserbeam]

01:00 PM on 07/30/2011

Leave it to your ilk to use this article as an excuse to make a childish political barb. Do you contribute this much careful thought to every serious discussion?

[senorlou]

03:52 AM on 07/31/2011

We get depressed watching the foolish things "conservatives" do to destroy the nation.  Lately, you guys have been toying around with the debt ceiling.  Very, very foolish.

[eva07]

12:16 AM on 07/28/2011

Really? what changed other than having a black president? He is doing exactly what Bush did, but of course he has a different color, and he is smart..

[F K 2]

12:46 PM on 07/28/2011

didnt the stock market crash, collapse of Lehman Bros., AIG etc occur in late 2008 when Bush was still president?

[hadafa]

01:41 PM on 07/28/2011

and obama learned nothing from it yet continued exacerbate and triple the debt.

[eva07]

08:14 PM on 07/28/2011

details, details..

[buzzina]

07:52 PM on 07/27/2011

I worked for a cruise line for two years in the medical department. Most of the crew is very poorly paid and from third world countries. They work for the American dollar, they send the money home so their families can have a better life. I would go down in the bowels of that big ship. There you could find men who did nothing but sort garbage. They sorted ships garbage for long hours daily, never had a day off, worked for as long as a ten months. They rarely got off the ship, were not allowed above the third deck. That is where the crew dining rooms are. I would hear them singing, laughing...they never complained...never. American passengers on the top decks with all the beautiful restaurants, lounges, casinos, shops, etc....complained all the time. They were never happy...something always wrong..always.

[Laserbeam]

01:14 PM on 07/30/2011

OT from article but directed at your comment:

I've only been on one cruise. My father took my daughter and I on a cruise of the Mediterranean the year after I donated a kidney to him as a surprise thank you. We all had a FANTASTIC time and would have had a very hard time finding something to complain about. I did get invited to hang out with some of the crew after hours where they hang out - maybe that said something about how much fun I had. I found every member of the crew without exception to be absolutely wonderful and I will never forget several of them. It's been twelve years now and I can still see their faces clearly. You are right about the low pay and the crew coming from many countries. I enjoyed speaking with them all so much. Maybe it's because I was working with interpreters at the time.

[Gregory Howell]

07:12 PM on 07/27/2011

I think a large part of the depression issue being greater in wealthier countries has to do with Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If you are worried about shelter over your head or where your next meal is coming from, you don't have time to contemplate existence and feel depressed.

I think our anti-depressant medicine options are not that great, but they do keep many from being completely black and suicidal. We are very much in the infancy of medicine and I look forward to the day (I'm sure I'll be dead by then) when we do have better medicines. We also have a prudish attitude of "anything that makes you feel better must be bad" in this country. How irritating is it that politics often prevents medical research and improvement? LSD and psychogenic mushrooms are being looked at as possible depression remedies (with a lot of potential) but research has been stifled for years because they are drugs that make you "high". The medical marijuana issue is a good example as well. The feds have just stepped in and said it has no purpose. We all know that is BS.

I also think our culture and media contributes greatly to depression and anxiety in this country. We are constantly being told how horrible the next catastrophe, be it financial or environmental or political, is going to be.

[Authentic Imp]

07:40 PM on 07/27/2011

Agreed and agreed. It also doesn't help that there is still a fairly widespread stigma attached to getting treatment for depression/anxiety issues.

[Laserbeam]

01:16 PM on 07/30/2011

You are so right about there still being a stigma around this. At least that is diminishing somewhat.

[aqua0]

11:26 PM on 07/27/2011

But the reliance on medication in this pharmacy culture also prevents people from dealing with their inner issues and resolve them. Thus, medicated people are forever numbed from experiencing TRUE (natural, non-chemical) well-being and happiness.

[energeticsong]

02:16 AM on 07/28/2011

Some of us try to deal with our depression in ways that don't involve medication; however, every time we try to seek help we just get more pills shoved at us. It's hard work to try and see help outside the pill bottle. Some of us try.

[Laserbeam]

01:18 PM on 07/30/2011

Sometimes it's not "dealing with inner issues". In my case there is a chemical imbalance in my system. Taking antidepressants for me is like a diabetic taking insulin. I sincerely mean no offense to you, but it is that kind of ignorance that has contributed to there STILL being a stigma around depression.

[flairbrusher]

06:55 PM on 07/27/2011

Remember that material things are temporary and there is never enough to fill the hole in our hearts that God's rightful place should be. It wasn't long ago that we were the people to most likely be the most stupidly optimistic in the world. Depression has increased particularly since we began filling our lives with the trendy gadgets that come out every five minutes, instead of placing value on the basic things, family, friends,love and giving. Remember that New York is one of those cities where you can be surrounded by millions of people yet be completely alone. The rest of the US seems to be on its way to be just like NY.