Hyderabad: Depression and anxiety disorders in the country have jumped to higher levels, affecting three per cent and 10 per cent of the population respectively in the last one decade, say specialists observing the Mental Health Week from October 4 to 11.
In 2005, the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health reported that one per cent of the population was facing depression and five per cent of people anxiety; their number totaling 10 to 20 million individuals. This number has seen a huge jump in the last one decade.
One of the reasons is that celebrities from Hollywood like Catherine Zeta Jones and Bollywood’s Deepika Padukone openly talked about their problems, which encouraged a lot of people facing such situations reporting themselves to clinics, citing their problems.
Dr Pragya Rashmi, consultant psychiatrist, said, “The experiences of a celebrity definitely help many people to relate to their own problems and understand that this is a disease that requires to be dealt with. Hence, it has had an impact. We are finding many people coming to clinics and openly talking about their problems. This is a positive change, where they are now aware of their problem and seeking help. This is very important.”
Experts say depression is a common mental disorder characterised first by sadness and loss of interest. Dr M. Gowri Devi, senior consultant psychiatrist and director at ASHA Hospital, said, “If sadness continues for too long and starts affecting sleep, appetite etc, and there are feelings of tiredness and poor concentration in work, then there is a need to get it properly diagnosed. Specialist care is required for a small proportion of individuals with complicated depression who do not respond to first-line of treatment.”
Depression is not a one-time affair. It is recurrent and substantially impairs an individual’s ability to function at work or cope with daily life. Dr Naresh Vadlamnai, senior psychiatrist, said, “The most severe form of depression is found to have not only emotional trauma but also socio-economic problems which lead to suicide. Here, all the factors count. These factors drive an individual to take the extreme step. Hence, it is very important to understand that the basic problem of depression is also linked to many factors which bond into a vicious circle.”
Mild symptoms of depression and anxiety can be treated without medicines, but when they are moderate or severe, medication is required apart from counselling.
