Often undiagnosed and untreated, depression is more physically damaging than some major chronic diseases like angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes put together, a new study from the World Health Organization found.
Depression put together with one chronic disease like angina, arthritis, asthma or diabetes produces greatest decrement to health as against a person suffering from two physical disorders.
“It's now official, depression is awful," WHO researchers conclude. The results of the study are published in the September 8 issue of the journal The Lancet.
A state of intense sadness, depression is a devastating illness that affects every aspect of a person’s life – physical, mental and emotional. It influences the sufferer’s self-esteem and perception of others, and a person with depression has difficulty in performing ordinary daily activities.
Examining over 250,000 people across 60 countries worldwide, WHO researchers found that people suffering from a chronic disease in the first place are more likely to be depressed and it's the depression that makes these patient feel worse.
"The patient's less likely to adhere to the treatment regime, they might be less likely to visit the doctor, they will have more difficulty in returning to work or participating in a rehabilitation program, because the depression takes away some of the motivation, energy, concentration, that you need to participate in these programs," Harvey Whiteford, psychiatry professor at University of Queensland, said.
Often missing on depression screening and treatment, about 70 percent of depression sufferer’s go undiagnosed compared to only 10 percent in case of asthma and 20 percent suffering from arthritis.
The report illustrates the urgency of identifying and treating depression in patients suffering from other chronic health problems.
"Treatment for depression should at least be on a par with that for other chronic diseases," Professor of psychiatry at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, Dr. Gavin Andrews advocated.
Depression is a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individual's social functioning and/or activities of daily living.It often leads to constant negative thinking and sometimes substance abuse.
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