AsianScientist (Aug. 13, 2012) – A new study has shown that depression and anxiety are serious health issues found in every society in the world, debunking old theories that only Westerners get depressed.
In two separate studies of anxiety disorders and clinical depression, researchers at The University of Queensland examined surveys of clinical anxiety and depression conducted across 91 countries, involving more than 480,000 people.
Anxiety – the most common of all mental disorders – currently affects about one in 13 people (7.3 percent). Anxiety disorders were more commonly reported in Western societies than in non-Western societies, even for those that are currently experiencing conflict.
Clinical anxiety affected around ten percent of people in North America, Western Europe and Australia/New Zealand compared to about eight percent in the Middle East and six percent in Asia.
The opposite was true for depression, which affects about one in 21 people (4.7 percent) of people at any point in time. People in Western countries are least likely to be depressed, while those in some parts of Asia and the Middle East are most likely to be depressed.
About nine percent of people have major depression in Asian and Middle Eastern countries, such as India and Afghanistan, compared with about four percent in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and East Asian countries including China, Thailand, and Indonesia.
But the lead author of the anxiety study, Amanda Baxter, urged caution when comparing mental disorders across different cultures, as many factors may influence the reported prevalence of anxiety disorders, she noted.
Alize Ferrari, lead author on the depression study, said findings suggested that depression appeared to be higher in parts of the world where conflict is occurring. She warned, however, that it can be difficult to obtain good quality data from some low and middle income countries.
“More investigation of the methods we use to diagnose depression and measure its prevalence in non-western countries is required, as well as more research on how depression occurs across the lifespan,” she said.
The studies further found that both major depression and anxiety are found more commonly in women than in men. While clinical depression is common throughout a person’s lifespan, anxiety becomes less common in men and women over the age of 55.
Both articles are published as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study that will be released later this year. The GBD Study will include estimates for 220 diseases including 11 mental health disorders.
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Source: UQ.
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