Depression is a disorder that has been associated with a high comorbidity with other psychological disorders, in addition to health problems such as diabetes and cardiopathology.
It is considered the main reason why people commit suicide and, despite great progress against stigmatization, many myths about depressive disorders are still believed today.
Below we will see various statistics about depression which shows how serious the problem is, the importance of following treatment and the need to inform the population about its consequences at the health, work, family and economic level.
Depression is a very common mental disorder, which has been associated with a high comorbidity with other disorders, especially anxiety disorders, in addition to several medical diseases.
Here you will find a few data, accompanied by their percentages, figures and sources, that present the statistics on depression and its monitoring in the last 10 years.
1. Number of people with depression
As we were already commenting, depression is a very common mental disorder. The World Health Organization (WHO) points out that more than 300 million people could be diagnosed with a depressive disorder. However, there are statistics that are even more pessimistic, indicating that this figure would already reach close to 350 million people.
To better understand these figures, the fact that there are some 350 million people with depression would be equivalent to the current population of Spain multiplied by seven. The percentage of people who suffer from it throughout their lives would be between 8% and 15%.
Although not all people with a mood disorder commit suicide, it is worth noting that a significant percentage of them do commit suicide because they do not see an end to their suffering.
Every year around 800,000 people end their lives, being the second cause of death among people between 15 and 29 years old.
Given the high risk of suicide in the population with depressive disorders it is of utmost importance to understand how the disorder originates and to sophisticate psychological and pharmacological treatments.
In the case of Spain, The risk of suicide is 21 times higher in the depressed population compared to the general population The suicide rate in Spain is 7 per 100,000 inhabitants, which means 10 deaths every day.
3. Percentage of people who receive treatment
Although there are effective treatments that require few technical resources to be applied, More than half of the population affected by depression worldwide does not receive any treatment
The percentages vary depending on the country, but in those that are still developing or have recently suffered a war, the percentage of depressed people without receiving any treatment can reach 90%.
4. Depression in Europe
Throughout the old continent there are countries with high cases of depression. The ranking places Germany as the country with the most cases, having more than 4 million, followed by Italy and France, with more than 3 million each and, in fourth place, is Spain, with more than two million.
To better understand the number of depressed people in Spain just imagine the entire population of Castilla y León (2.5 million) depressed.
5. Percentages by gender
In all European countries, and in line with the global trend, there are more cases of depressed women (5.1% of all women) than depressed men (3.6% of all men). In the case of Spain, depression affects 9.2% of women, while in men it affects 4%.
In Spain, the risk of the general population developing an episode of severe depression once in their life is, as expected, twice as high in women (16.5%) as in men (8.9%).
6. Risk of having depression once in a lifetime
Factors such as being under 29 or over 55, poverty, unemployment or drug addictions recreational drugs, tobacco or alcohol increase the percentages. The prevalence of depression is twice as high in people who are unemployed (9.2) compared to those who are working (3.1%).
7. Depression in children
In the child population worldwide, the WHO estimates that 2% of children between 6 and 12 years old suffer from depression. The percentage increases in the 12 to 14 age group, oscillating between 4% and 6%.
8. Drug consumption
The statistics regarding drug consumption in Spain are as follows: about 10.7% of the population consume tranquilizers, relaxants or sleeping pills (13.9% in women and 7.4% in men), 4.8 % antidepressants (6.7% of women and 2.7% of men).
9. Seeking professional help
5.4% of the Spanish population indicates having seen a mental health professional, be it a psychologist or psychiatrist, at least once during the last year (6.1% of women and 4.6% of men).
10. Economic impact
According to data from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), Depression costs member countries up to 4% of GDP Although this is data from a decade ago, it was estimated that the depression in 2010 cost the European Union 92 billion euros.
It has been related the loss of productivity caused by absenteeism and presenteeism around 50% of all costs related in one way or another to depression.
11. Abandonment of treatment
It is worrying to see that About half of the patients, 43%, abandon treatment
It is known that a large number of patients who continue treatment do not follow it strictly, especially if it is psychopharmacological. This is because some antidepressants take several weeks to take effect, and patients want short-term results.
12. Disability, health problems and hospitalization
In Spain, Depression causes complete functional disability of 47 days a year on average a partial functional disability of 60 days a year.
Depression has been associated with a risk factor for physical illnesses, especially those related to the heart or metabolic problems such as diabetes. In Europe, depression represents more than 7% of premature mortality.
The inverse relationship has also been investigated, finding that about 21.5% (16.3% in men and 31.8% in women) of patients who are hospitalized may present depressive symptoms. Nearly 20% of patients treated in Spanish Primary Care present depressive disorders
13. Improvement with antidepressants
According to research by Furukawa’s group (2016), About 54% of adults with depression who are treated with antidepressant drugs notice an improvement of about 50% of their symptoms Interestingly, between 30 and 40% of adults who were prescribed a placebo drug also saw their symptoms reduced by 50%.
14. Improvement with psychotherapy
62% of adults show improvement after attending psychotherapy the percentage being 66% of those who have gone to a psychotherapist who has applied cognitive-behavioral treatment, according to research by Cuijpers et al (2014).
In the case of the child population, the improvement is 33%
15. Relapses
Regarding the chances that a person who has suffered a depressive episode will manifest another one again throughout life, statistics vary significantly.
In general terms, the appearance of a depressive episode has been related to a greater probability of a relapse occurring later, in the short or long term. Nearly 60% of patients who have suffered a depressive episode experience at least a new one throughout their lives
However, and according to research carried out by Monroe’s group in 2012, about 50% of the population who has experienced depression will only experience that specific depression.
However, other research (Richards, 2011) shows the following data: between 25-40% of patients who recover after treatment will have another depressive episode during the next 2 years, 60% of them after 5 years and a 85% after 15 years
