Depression: Leading Cause For Suicide

Depression is very serious.

It is the main cause for suicide.

People are killing themselves by the thousands, because of this dangerous disease.

In this article, we will see how depression is increasing alarmingly worldwide.

According to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) for 2010: Globally, more than 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression, or about 5% of the world population. Even worse, Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and is a major contributor to the global burden of disease.

The WHO also reports that suicide rates have increased 60 percent over the past 50 years, most strikingly in the developing world, and that by 2020 depression will be the second most prevalent medical

One clear indication of the rapid increase of depression was evident in the 2013 study of global consumption of antidepressants, by the Guardian. The study focused on 25 countries, and it noticed that since the year 2000, every single covered country has increased its consumption of antidepressants. Some data show that the US consumption of antidepressants increased 400% between 1988 and 2008 (CDC)

A - Some Depression Statistics By Country

1 - USA:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2012, major depression is the leading cause of disability for Americans between the ages of 15 and 44.

- CDC, 2012: While major depressive disorder can develop at any age, the median age at onset is 32.5.

- In 1991 depression rates for American adults stood at 3.33% of the population, according to The American Journal of Psychiatry. In 2011, CDC numbers show that it reached approximately 10 percent of Americans ages 18 and over in a given year, or more than 24 million people.

- Depression is involved in more than two - thirds of the 39,000 suicides that occur in the United States every year. For every two homicides, there are three

- The total number of 12 - 19 year - olds in Canada at risk for developing depression is a staggering 3.2 million.

4 - Japan:

- According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates, at 21 people per 100,000, compared to the United States' rate of 12 per 100,000. In 2010, 31,690 people in Japan killed themselves.

- According to her book "Depression in Japan," anthropologist Junko Kitanaka writes that the number of diagnoses of depression in that country more than doubled between 1999 and 2008.

5 - China:

Although China does not publish official statistics on mental health, most evidence suggests that its depression rate is on the rise.

China may be home to more than 30 million depression patients, or 3% - 5% of the total population, according to a 2012 report by the market data company Research and Markets. The report indicates that the country's antidepressant market is booming. About £326m of the drugs were sold in 2012 - a small portion of China's pharmaceuticals market as a whole, but growing quickly, with a 22.6% increase on 2011.

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