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It appears to reference [0], a 2017 publication, which itself references [1] a 2015 publication, which is a bit of a dead end from a layperson perspective.
[0] https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/depression-global-he... [1] https://ghdx.healthdata.org/record/ihme-data/gbd-2015-life-e...
One surprise in these numbers is that Africa seems to be doing better than Latin America when I would have expected them to be close to each other given the economic difficulties, violence and lack of perspective for large swaths of the population.
One surprise in these numbers is that Africa seems to be doing better than Latin America when I would have expected them to be close to each other given the economic difficulties, violence and lack of perspective for large swaths of the population.
Is depression a true first world problem? Am I ignorant to say that maybe a struggle to survive gives you less time to ruminate and get depressed? Or maybe the culture of relying on other people in poorer economic situations (within an actual culture of interacting with others), provides some sort of preventive cure for depression.
> While the numbers listed above (and below) are valuable and vital, it is important to keep in mind that the true rates are likely much higher, especially in less developed countries. Depression is much more likely to be diagnosed in highly developed countries, whose more robust health care infrastructures are far better equipped to identify and treat mental illnesses.
> Therefore, less developed countries do not necessarily have less depression—rather, their treatment of mental illnesses often takes a back seat to broader concerns such as hunger, disease, and sanitation. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that 76–85% of people suffering from mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries lack access to the necessary treatment. Moreover, even in developed nations, many cases of mental illness go undiagnosed and unreported because the patients are either ashamed of their illness or unaware that it's a medically treatable condition.
So I'm wondering what the data displayed on the page is actually showing us. Certainly, the initial impressions that I got is that the first world lifestyle is associated with a kind of malaise, but is this just showing differences in diagnostic rates? Or a combination of the two, if so, how to untangle that and get a useful comparison between countries?
One surprise in these numbers is that Africa seems to be doing better than Latin America when I would have expected them to be close to each other given the economic difficulties, violence and lack of perspective for large swaths of the population.
Countries that have systems for detection (i.e. better medical systems) and less stigmatization of depression will have higher detection rates.
I wonder if talking about it so much make people question their own leave of well being too often?
I compare this to long stints in HK and Singapore - not once has it been mentioned in the office or even socially.
One surprise in these numbers is that Africa seems to be doing better than Latin America when I would have expected them to be close to each other given the economic difficulties, violence and lack of perspective for large swaths of the population.
The error bars on any kind of population data for large parts of Africa should be very large.
I think if we had perfect data, there'd be a strong correlation between sunlight hours and lower depression rates. It's one of the few real factors for alleviating mild-moderate depression. Stuff like living standards has very little relation to actual clinical depression.
One surprise in these numbers is that Africa seems to be doing better than Latin America when I would have expected them to be close to each other given the economic difficulties, violence and lack of perspective for large swaths of the population.
If you measure stress, hunger, sorrow, fear, scarcity, etc. you'll find higher levels among the global poor, but if you measure "malaise, sadness, lack of purpose, emptiness, yearning for meaning, loneliness" you won't find that the global poor suffer these things as acutely.
People are often surprised when they visit the poorer Caribbean countries, or African countries (not experience immediate war), or South America, and come back gushing about how happy the people there are. Yes; many of the people you'll interact with the third world work fewer hours, with friends and companions from the same culture, with the same spiritual beliefs, doing physical labor outside that has an immediate impact on their direct survival.
By contrast, go to any part of the third world that is experiencing "industrialization" or "globalization"--Lagos, Cairo, Luanda, etc.--and you'll find that "depression" rates begin to increase as people grow up and slot themselves into the global supply chain instead of the lifestyle of their ancestors.
(For the record, I am not advocating that we should shut down the supply chain to cure depression, but I think this understanding of why "happiness" trends down in areas where life is easy and comfortable, but trends up in areas where life is difficult and uncomfortable, is an important step in figuring out a good mental model of the world.)
This is an important quote from the article, before naively interpreting the results.
One surprise in these numbers is that Africa seems to be doing better than Latin America when I would have expected them to be close to each other given the economic difficulties, violence and lack of perspective for large swaths of the population.
https://old.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1bmna2e/fertility_... Or to quote Bertrand Russle: > There were once upon a time two sausage machines, exquisitely constructed for the purpose of turning pig into the most delicious sausages. One of these retained his zest for pig and produced sausages innumerable; the other said: 'What is pig to me? My own works are far more interesting and wonderful than any pig.' He refuse…
One surprise in these numbers is that Africa seems to be doing better than Latin America when I would have expected them to be close to each other given the economic difficulties, violence and lack of perspective for large swaths of the population.
What's wrong with violence? I never found violence to be depressing. For me it was sort of the opposite as a young man.
Are we under diagnosing Depression or Over prescribing SSRI's? The numbers dont add up AT ALL. Not even close. Not in the same league.
There are mental health problems. We need therapists.
We also need there to be good diagnostic criteria (you cant see someone for an hour and hand them a psycho active drug cause your good at diagnostic). We need better science (remember folks this is the field that is the wellspring of the reproducibility crisis we're having in science).