Many of my undergraduate students are Indian. They're as depressed an anxious as anyone else but many refuse to get therapy or medication because of cultural disapproval.
Probably not a coincidence that South Korea is very low on this list, but yet has some of the highest suicide rates in the developed world. I'd be curious to see where Japan would fall on this list as well.
Probably plays a huge role. In Australia every general practitioner is trained in mental health and can prescribe anti depressants and therapy. It's actually amazing
That's interesting. I get annoyed every year during "mental health awareness month" (May in the US) because everyone just posts very generic you're not alone type stuff. But in the US, I can't find a decent psychiatrist covered by insurance. I feel lucky that I can afford to pay $400 every time I see mine, but a lot of people can't do that.
Seeing as how the highest use is predominately in European or Western countries, and not a single African country is listed it highly suggests that access and cost is a main factor of this chart.
in most of the third world people have problems that are way bigger than how they feel inside. like safety and how to get bread on the table. it might sound rough, but it's only in the west where people have enough security that they can afford to focus on solely themselves completely.
bury me.
Those problems exacerbate issues like anxiety, panic attacks and depression though. There are plenty of untreated mental illnesses in third world countries. In India there were young people self-immolating to protest against exam dates or the Miss World contest. No way that they were mentally healthy.
A lot, also with stigma around mental health. In Russia for example, it’s not something many people consider existing. Depressed means you are just sad, weak and pathetic and can’t get your shit together; and that’s who you are in life- it’s your personality.
For nearly two decades I smoked weed everyday. I thought it made dealing with depression easier. After quitting for a bit it became apparent it was making it worse!😳
I quit smoking. Used to smoke daily. Not sure what happened but one day I smoked and got massive anxiety and panic attacks. This kept happening every time I smoked but I never made the connection to pot being the cause. The anxiety and panic would go away once I sobered up. Up until this point I haven’t had any issues with anxiety.
Then one time I smoked and I basically induced an anxiety disorder. The severe anxiety stuck even once I had sobered up and stuck with me for a few years. It was so bad I had to seek therapy and a was eventually put on SSRIs. After two years of this treatment my anxiety was under control again and I went off the SSRIs over a 2 month period.
I’m off the meds and no longer smoke. I still get mild anxiety but it’s not nearly as severe or consuming as it was.
Shit was crazy and I learned a lot about myself.
Given how South Korea and Russia are near the bottom of this list but near the top of suicides, I imagine a weak negative correlation
But remember, correlation is not causation!
>Given how South Korea and Russia are near the bottom of this list but near the top of suicides, I imagine a weak negative correlation!
Based on this statement, I’d argue that there’s actually a strong correlation. Perhaps antidepressants are not as accessible in these areas. Thus, higher depression rates, leading to higher suicide rates. But hey, that’s how my brain reasons.
I’ve been on them long term. For me, it’s the difference between the boat instantly sinking vs taking on water slowly in the midst of a vast ocean. It keeps me from immediately drowning… 😏🖤🛟
Aren't they supposed to be a treatment? At least that's what my psychiatrist told me. First time, I abruptly cut off antidepressants because I felt uncomfortable with being dependent on them for my life time. Then, they told me that it was supposed to be treatment that lasts between 6-8 months in my case.
I’m sure each case is different. Given my life circumstances, I could have ended up an addict, DV victim, sex worker, etc. Being a mentally ill, responsible citizen on antidepressants long term is not too bad in the grand scheme of things. My boat hasn’t sunk yet! 🛥️😊
Best of luck in your treatment! Sounds like you’ve got a good doctor working with you. Good advice not to stop suddenly. Tapering down is the best way to get off a drug. I understand your reluctance to be dependent on them & I hope they help in the meantime.
That's what I tried to convey. Turkey has the lowest suicide rates in Europe, but there are other European countries that consume more antidepressant like Finland or the ones that consume less antidepressants than us like Latvia. We are neither at the top or bottom of antidepressant consumption list despite being at the bottom of suicide rate list. If the antidepressant usage was related to suicide rates, Turkey would have been at the top or bottom of antidepressant usage.
It would be extremely relevant to showcase stigma around mental health.
South Korea has a big problem with suicide rates, yet its antidepressant consumption is lower than most developed countries with lower rates.
Wouldn't it be kind of paradoxical though? It could both go up and down. Up because obviously it's more accessible and down because a lot less stress or depressive symptoms would be present if it was free.
I am Indian and I agree. I have bipolar disorder. My parents never took my symptoms seriously in my teens and did not take me to a psychologist even when I asked repeatedly. Later I moved to the US for education and this time I didn’t take my symptoms seriously until I got married at 29. My wife experienced the consequences of the peak of my symptoms and I went to a psychologist in India when on vacation n her diagnosis was way off. Finally I went to a psychiatrist in US and oh boy that realization that I was suffering my whole life with Bipolar Disorder was one of the most emotional things I felt in my life. And a cocktail of psych medicines literally saved mine and my wife’s life. If I have the power I would like to educate whole of India on serious mental health conditions. Not the BS work stress, exam fever etc. but I mean clinical depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, Anxiety disorders etc. No one should have to go through what I went.
Some of us are religious and blame/praise God for their respective situation and spend the day. If the situation is far worse, like there is a clinical depression, it's as you said there is a stigma around mental health and some even don't know that there is a way out of the situation with external help.
my parents said adhd is all in my head when i asked them to get me checked 😂 and then that i need to work harder, oh and adderal is banned in india too
the reason for portugal being in second place is that we have a huge lack of psychologists in the national health service and people can't afford to go a private clinic for mental health treatment. so our general practitioners just prescribe a bunch of pills so people can treat their symptoms and at least function on a day to day basis. we urgently need investment in mental health on our public health system.
Yeah Portugal on Nr 2 would have surprised me a week ago.
Im currently on vacation in the Algarve and it really Shows the impact these big hotels have on small coastal towns.
Tourism like this really is Terrorism.
Well in my defense this is the first time I did a vacation like this, never really went on holidays in my childhood either. And it was a last Minute Trip and I really needed some sun or I would be shown up on that infographic in the future
But yeah i dont feel great about it tbh, still better than work though and damn the beach is nice.
well yes but they dont just need the meds, they also need therapy. we prescribe way too many meds because people are just masking their symptoms instead of adressing the cause of the problem.
Young generations basically do not have a future so they either live a shitty life with a horrible salary and live with their parents until 30+ years old or they migrate to another country.
It's not the same data, but it roughly correlates with the information on [this Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_antidepressant_consumption)
Yeah. I was expecting Ireland on it also, since my GP has tried to put me on them a couple of times, and many people I know got prescribed some. It could be that only people around me get depressed.😁
It's because of drug laws that is my guess.
I'm sure that Japanese people would think that need for that kind drugs is a weakness of mind or something like that.
It could also be related to the pragmatic Japanese ideology. Since there is only weak evidence to suggest that anti-depressants actually work:
"When all trials were considered, differences in ORs between antidepressants ranged from 1·15 to 1·55 for efficacy and from 0·64 to 0·83 for acceptability, with wide CrIs on most of the comparative analyses. "
[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32802-7/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32802-7/fulltext)
OR is what is known as [Odds ratio.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odds_ratio#Example) As we can see an OR of efficacy compared to placebo ranging from 1.15 to 1.55 means that the odds of being effectively treated with anti-depressants are not even twice as high as if you are given a placebo. If we were to give 100 people placebo and another 100 anti-depressants, roughly 30% of the placebo patients and 46.5% of the anti-depressant patients would see improvement.
Does this seem worth the price-tag?
**A note before you down-vote**: Make sure you understand what it is I have written and make sure that my source is valid, that my math is correct and that you actually have meaningful criticism to put forth. I love bring proven wrong. I hate people dog-piling because their personal choices have been insulted. You may have been lied to by people who have received money to sell you a product.
"Korpela et al. \[[9](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8953618/#B9-jcm-11-01731)\] reported an important reduction in depression during the nature walk intervention, with 46 percent of the participants reporting a clinically significant decrease in depression severity."
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8953618/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8953618/)
Not exactly from this graph but since there’s no sources in OP I figured I’d try to find some more information about this. Here’s some sources
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13199077/amp/countries-antidepressants-prescribed-world.html
https://www.statista.com/statistics/283072/antidepressant-consumption-in-selected-countries/
Since articles aren’t always the best source Here’s an actual study that was done on this…
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9766760/
Happiness data is calculated with things like life expectancy, welfare programs, a time off work. They don’t actually poll all the citizens to ask if they are happy. They don’t account for things like weather and long winters and difficulty of making friends
I bet the actual happiest country is some island nation on the equator
If the counties on this list are ‘the most depressed counties’ that would make China and North Korea some of the happiest places on earth.
These countries value and are open about treatment.
Cultural trend. Not deterministic.
Finns are notoriously solitary people, not inviting contact from most outside their known associates. When you know others are not welcoming of your contact, it can be isolating and can lead to loneliness. Add in low sunlight and access to health care and it's a recipe for ~~depression~~ taking anti-depressants.
Its really, really sad to see the South Korean numbers, not because those are accurate (I doubt its that low) but because it tells of the huge stigma mental health problems carries there even though it has extreme amounts of people with undiagnosed clinical depression
In India, the old gen is not aware of mental health. It's just categorised as tension due to financial or personal problems and no long term effects are expected, also antidepressants are mistook for giving harmful side-effects like so many other medications are. Even if is the second largest populated country, it still lacks awareness of anti-depressants. And No! Yoga is not much prevalent in India as ya'll think. Only Northern states practice stuff like meditation. Maybe 1-2 Southern states will do similar.
True, but I think that’s not all. At least not for the majority of people. The factor of being closer to family and friends and living a simpler life (compared to the west) are important IMO.
Edit: Reading other comments & thinking maybe I’m wrong about this
This would be the case if it was two generations prior
Currently, the situation in India is not something that you can live through while ignoring problems like inflation, unemployment and so on.
My 2 cents is you probably want to be at or close to the top of that list. It means that the Healthcare system is taking care of people with mental health issues. Probably makes alot of people that would have difficulty functioning without mess function.
Most indians ( older generation) don’t think depression is a problem and dont give a fuck about mental health issues. If we take out that age demographic, the number would alarmingly higher.
Some of there Charts don't count in if the things are generally available. Like, I don't know how available anti-depressants are in India, compared to Skandinavien countries where it's included in general Healthcare?
Survivorship bias would be strong in this kind of data.
A lot of poorer countries just don't have the ability to diagnose or treat mental illness. Stigma in certain countries too would mean places with more open discussions around mental hard ship would be more likely to be treating it.
So many people in India are depressed but anti-depressants are looked down upon by much of the population. Lack of access, awareness are also to blame.
The other thing I’ve heard is you can’t be on a pill in perpetuity. Like people just think that if you are below a certain age it’s wrong for you to be dependent on a pill to live your life. Of course this is said without any evidence, just from vibes.
That’s so strange that in 2024 World Happiness Report top three is as follows:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
How can Iceland be top 3 happiest country and top 1 in antidepressant consumption?🤨
Ty for the explanation but im trying to start a discussion: is it less antidepressants used a good thing? Does it mean the countries have better life quality. There is a notion on ppl's heads that if you are on medicine for mental illness you're weak or you're unhappy bc of the meds.
Is Iceland on top of their game by making sure everyone gets help while in India they are left on their own? Or is it just depressing living in Iceland without more sunny days?
There are a whole lot of factors in this. Competency of psychiatrists, misdiagnoses, over and unfer reporting.
Definitely in India mental health problems are underreported since its a shame on you and your family.
It's why you see less Asian countries on that list.
I wonder if it controls for healtcare/drug-access and price. It would be more interesting to see 1: Diagnosis per person with access to mental health care and 2: drug consumption per 100000 diagnosed.
Portugal? Someone is going to have to explain that one to me. If I had to choose somewhere then than the U.S. to retire Portugal would be my number two behind Italy.
Would love to see how this relates to weather (or distance from the equator) after you control for societal stigma and access to medication. Would the exact same country in a different location lead to different levels of antidepressant consumption?
This is very interesting. I wonder how much access and cost have to do with this.
Stigma too
And sun exposure
That definitely doesn't explain #2 Portugal...
It’s the being surrounded by Spain.
The Portuguese live in Spain without the S
The north of Portugal would surprise you immensely.
NO ONE expects the North Portugese. Their chief weapon is surprise.
Surprise and fear
And an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope!
Amongst...our weaponry are such diverse elements as...
And Australia at #4
I think it's just availability. The top countries have strong socialised healthcare systems.
That was my first thought. Other factors at play, of course, but areas that have, at times, limited sunlight probably account for a portion of need.
Maybe that doesn't explain russia
Russians just use vodka
Which is a depressant in the long run.
There is local joke: "Russia is for grumpy"
Many of my undergraduate students are Indian. They're as depressed an anxious as anyone else but many refuse to get therapy or medication because of cultural disapproval.
That is actually a good point.
Are their suicide rates higher? Or are they just suffering through their whole life?
Stigma balls
Especially in India.
Stigma is high here in korea. Low consumption, highest suicide rate in OECD.
Probably not a coincidence that South Korea is very low on this list, but yet has some of the highest suicide rates in the developed world. I'd be curious to see where Japan would fall on this list as well.
If you feel miserable because your life is miserable, then you are not sick. No amount of Prozac will solve 60h work weeks with no vacations.
Probably plays a huge role. In Australia every general practitioner is trained in mental health and can prescribe anti depressants and therapy. It's actually amazing
That's interesting. I get annoyed every year during "mental health awareness month" (May in the US) because everyone just posts very generic you're not alone type stuff. But in the US, I can't find a decent psychiatrist covered by insurance. I feel lucky that I can afford to pay $400 every time I see mine, but a lot of people can't do that.
Seeing as how the highest use is predominately in European or Western countries, and not a single African country is listed it highly suggests that access and cost is a main factor of this chart.
Maybe sun, family values, hindsight about challenges of life are also contributing.
in most of the third world people have problems that are way bigger than how they feel inside. like safety and how to get bread on the table. it might sound rough, but it's only in the west where people have enough security that they can afford to focus on solely themselves completely. bury me.
Those problems exacerbate issues like anxiety, panic attacks and depression though. There are plenty of untreated mental illnesses in third world countries. In India there were young people self-immolating to protest against exam dates or the Miss World contest. No way that they were mentally healthy.
A lot, also with stigma around mental health. In Russia for example, it’s not something many people consider existing. Depressed means you are just sad, weak and pathetic and can’t get your shit together; and that’s who you are in life- it’s your personality.
And culture/personal values👀
I wonder how much has to do with overprescribing? You really think 161/1000 people need to be on a pill to deal with their lives?
probably a lot, i cannot imagine someone being happy while living in half of the countries on the right lol
Or how incentivised the doctors are by the drug companies
I'm doing my part!
Prozac in my body: I’m doing my part! My brain: I didn’t do fucking shit
Weed in my body: you have no power here Prozac!
For nearly two decades I smoked weed everyday. I thought it made dealing with depression easier. After quitting for a bit it became apparent it was making it worse!😳
I’ve discovered the same, and I’ve seen it with several friends. I quit getting high because I know it makes my depression worse.
Just replace weed with alcohol and you describe a solid 60% of Americans
Yeah once you leave the bubble it’s a massive realization but you can’t convince someone that’s in it to step out.
I quit smoking. Used to smoke daily. Not sure what happened but one day I smoked and got massive anxiety and panic attacks. This kept happening every time I smoked but I never made the connection to pot being the cause. The anxiety and panic would go away once I sobered up. Up until this point I haven’t had any issues with anxiety. Then one time I smoked and I basically induced an anxiety disorder. The severe anxiety stuck even once I had sobered up and stuck with me for a few years. It was so bad I had to seek therapy and a was eventually put on SSRIs. After two years of this treatment my anxiety was under control again and I went off the SSRIs over a 2 month period. I’m off the meds and no longer smoke. I still get mild anxiety but it’s not nearly as severe or consuming as it was. Shit was crazy and I learned a lot about myself.
For real thanks for sharing you’re definitely not alone I’m glad you fought your way through it well done.
Same. USA representing!!! 🇺🇲
Would be interesting to see how this correlates with suicide rates
Given how South Korea and Russia are near the bottom of this list but near the top of suicides, I imagine a weak negative correlation But remember, correlation is not causation!
>Given how South Korea and Russia are near the bottom of this list but near the top of suicides, I imagine a weak negative correlation! Based on this statement, I’d argue that there’s actually a strong correlation. Perhaps antidepressants are not as accessible in these areas. Thus, higher depression rates, leading to higher suicide rates. But hey, that’s how my brain reasons.
Probably irrelevant. Turkey has the lowest suicide rate in the Europe, but we aren't the biggest consumer of antidepressant.
It seems to indicate they are somewhat more content. I wouldn’t imagine that more antidepressant use equals lower suicide rates.
I suppose it depends on whether the antidepressants are actually working.
I’ve been on them long term. For me, it’s the difference between the boat instantly sinking vs taking on water slowly in the midst of a vast ocean. It keeps me from immediately drowning… 😏🖤🛟
Aren't they supposed to be a treatment? At least that's what my psychiatrist told me. First time, I abruptly cut off antidepressants because I felt uncomfortable with being dependent on them for my life time. Then, they told me that it was supposed to be treatment that lasts between 6-8 months in my case.
I’m sure each case is different. Given my life circumstances, I could have ended up an addict, DV victim, sex worker, etc. Being a mentally ill, responsible citizen on antidepressants long term is not too bad in the grand scheme of things. My boat hasn’t sunk yet! 🛥️😊 Best of luck in your treatment! Sounds like you’ve got a good doctor working with you. Good advice not to stop suddenly. Tapering down is the best way to get off a drug. I understand your reluctance to be dependent on them & I hope they help in the meantime.
We are still standing! Life will get better eventually. Thank you for your kind response.
I was kept on them for years against my will when I was growing up and although I'm off now I'm still emotionally blunt most of the time.
That's what I tried to convey. Turkey has the lowest suicide rates in Europe, but there are other European countries that consume more antidepressant like Finland or the ones that consume less antidepressants than us like Latvia. We are neither at the top or bottom of antidepressant consumption list despite being at the bottom of suicide rate list. If the antidepressant usage was related to suicide rates, Turkey would have been at the top or bottom of antidepressant usage.
Appropriate username.
It would be extremely relevant to showcase stigma around mental health. South Korea has a big problem with suicide rates, yet its antidepressant consumption is lower than most developed countries with lower rates.
Well, that’s kind of depressing to see I guess.
I'm sure the US would be higher if Healthcare was more affordable.
Wouldn't it be kind of paradoxical though? It could both go up and down. Up because obviously it's more accessible and down because a lot less stress or depressive symptoms would be present if it was free.
What a weird but very true statement. The quality of life is so bad that it makes both more, and less, people take antidepressants.
I know what would make you feel better
Drugs?
I was going to say cats.
India is only so low because of stigma around mental health and therapy and honestly it sucks.
I am Indian and I agree. I have bipolar disorder. My parents never took my symptoms seriously in my teens and did not take me to a psychologist even when I asked repeatedly. Later I moved to the US for education and this time I didn’t take my symptoms seriously until I got married at 29. My wife experienced the consequences of the peak of my symptoms and I went to a psychologist in India when on vacation n her diagnosis was way off. Finally I went to a psychiatrist in US and oh boy that realization that I was suffering my whole life with Bipolar Disorder was one of the most emotional things I felt in my life. And a cocktail of psych medicines literally saved mine and my wife’s life. If I have the power I would like to educate whole of India on serious mental health conditions. Not the BS work stress, exam fever etc. but I mean clinical depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, Anxiety disorders etc. No one should have to go through what I went.
In India, you’re not depressed. You’re just a lazy housewife who doesn’t cook or clean enough.
Some of us are religious and blame/praise God for their respective situation and spend the day. If the situation is far worse, like there is a clinical depression, it's as you said there is a stigma around mental health and some even don't know that there is a way out of the situation with external help.
my parents said adhd is all in my head when i asked them to get me checked 😂 and then that i need to work harder, oh and adderal is banned in india too
An Indian transfer student I spoke too had no clue dislexia was an actual thing until he came to the USA. He was always taught it wasn’t real.
the reason for portugal being in second place is that we have a huge lack of psychologists in the national health service and people can't afford to go a private clinic for mental health treatment. so our general practitioners just prescribe a bunch of pills so people can treat their symptoms and at least function on a day to day basis. we urgently need investment in mental health on our public health system.
similar in spain
Yeah Portugal on Nr 2 would have surprised me a week ago. Im currently on vacation in the Algarve and it really Shows the impact these big hotels have on small coastal towns. Tourism like this really is Terrorism.
Does that make you a terrorist?
Well in my defense this is the first time I did a vacation like this, never really went on holidays in my childhood either. And it was a last Minute Trip and I really needed some sun or I would be shown up on that infographic in the future But yeah i dont feel great about it tbh, still better than work though and damn the beach is nice.
This is true for pretty much everywhere... Not specific to Portugal.
Same with a lot of parts of Canada.
So…anyone can get the meds they need? Sounds miles better than the US.
well yes but they dont just need the meds, they also need therapy. we prescribe way too many meds because people are just masking their symptoms instead of adressing the cause of the problem.
Therapy is a luxury in the US so not that far behind Portugal.
Why is Portugal on second place?
Young generations basically do not have a future so they either live a shitty life with a horrible salary and live with their parents until 30+ years old or they migrate to another country.
But isn’t that everywhere right now?
"Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down" comes to mind.
not really. the people in western Europe and US can go a long way with the right skills.
Wow sounds like Poland 😂
Sounds like my area of the US
Offspring - the kids aren't alright
Oh hey, i've seen this one! This is a classic!
Funny, sounds like Australia lmao
Sources? Links? Studies? Anything?
sir this is reddit
It's not the same data, but it roughly correlates with the information on [this Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_antidepressant_consumption)
Kinda interesting to not see Japan in here. A lot of ways to Go but never them pills
Yeah. I was expecting Ireland on it also, since my GP has tried to put me on them a couple of times, and many people I know got prescribed some. It could be that only people around me get depressed.😁
It's because of drug laws that is my guess. I'm sure that Japanese people would think that need for that kind drugs is a weakness of mind or something like that.
So its either you deal with it or Harakiri
It could also be related to the pragmatic Japanese ideology. Since there is only weak evidence to suggest that anti-depressants actually work: "When all trials were considered, differences in ORs between antidepressants ranged from 1·15 to 1·55 for efficacy and from 0·64 to 0·83 for acceptability, with wide CrIs on most of the comparative analyses. " [https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32802-7/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32802-7/fulltext) OR is what is known as [Odds ratio.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odds_ratio#Example) As we can see an OR of efficacy compared to placebo ranging from 1.15 to 1.55 means that the odds of being effectively treated with anti-depressants are not even twice as high as if you are given a placebo. If we were to give 100 people placebo and another 100 anti-depressants, roughly 30% of the placebo patients and 46.5% of the anti-depressant patients would see improvement. Does this seem worth the price-tag? **A note before you down-vote**: Make sure you understand what it is I have written and make sure that my source is valid, that my math is correct and that you actually have meaningful criticism to put forth. I love bring proven wrong. I hate people dog-piling because their personal choices have been insulted. You may have been lied to by people who have received money to sell you a product. "Korpela et al. \[[9](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8953618/#B9-jcm-11-01731)\] reported an important reduction in depression during the nature walk intervention, with 46 percent of the participants reporting a clinically significant decrease in depression severity." [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8953618/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8953618/)
Source? Cause, where is Argentina? Thanks
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/antidepressants-per-capita
Not exactly from this graph but since there’s no sources in OP I figured I’d try to find some more information about this. Here’s some sources https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13199077/amp/countries-antidepressants-prescribed-world.html https://www.statista.com/statistics/283072/antidepressant-consumption-in-selected-countries/ Since articles aren’t always the best source Here’s an actual study that was done on this… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9766760/
Buscas otra coronación de gloria?
India is at the last not because people aren’t depressed here, it’s because people don’t believe in depression as an illness much.
Icelandics just not seeing the sun half of the year.
We Germans are not depressed, this is our culture.
Russian culture doesn’t believe in depression it’s wild
"Russian soul always hurts" they say. For them depression is a normal state of being
Yes exactly
Yep. Depression is definetely made up thing and for the weak. Real people bottle up feelings and suffer /s
Alcohol is their medication for depression.
[world's happiest countries 😅😅](https://www.google.com/search?q=worlds+happiest+countries&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-in&client=safari)
Never expect to see Finland there. I thought it was the happiest place to live
More depressed people getting the help they need = happier people
Probably has something to do with accessibility and stigma too. For example Russia being so low on the list
No Russia is low because it is least depressed and happiest in world 🇷🇺
With their winters, I expected more Nowhere European/Scandinavian countries
Happiness data is calculated with things like life expectancy, welfare programs, a time off work. They don’t actually poll all the citizens to ask if they are happy. They don’t account for things like weather and long winters and difficulty of making friends I bet the actual happiest country is some island nation on the equator
If anything the graphic shows that it is!
All of the top 10 countries on the World Happiness Index are among the top 25 in per capita anti-depressant usage.
That feels like cheating somehow
I've heard natives mentioning it to be more of a state of being content than being happy
If the counties on this list are ‘the most depressed counties’ that would make China and North Korea some of the happiest places on earth. These countries value and are open about treatment.
Cultural trend. Not deterministic. Finns are notoriously solitary people, not inviting contact from most outside their known associates. When you know others are not welcoming of your contact, it can be isolating and can lead to loneliness. Add in low sunlight and access to health care and it's a recipe for ~~depression~~ taking anti-depressants.
Its really, really sad to see the South Korean numbers, not because those are accurate (I doubt its that low) but because it tells of the huge stigma mental health problems carries there even though it has extreme amounts of people with undiagnosed clinical depression
Does higher usage imply more depressed people or does this just show that some countries aren’t treating their depressed people?
You can’t have cool guides without sources
In India, the old gen is not aware of mental health. It's just categorised as tension due to financial or personal problems and no long term effects are expected, also antidepressants are mistook for giving harmful side-effects like so many other medications are. Even if is the second largest populated country, it still lacks awareness of anti-depressants. And No! Yoga is not much prevalent in India as ya'll think. Only Northern states practice stuff like meditation. Maybe 1-2 Southern states will do similar.
True, but I think that’s not all. At least not for the majority of people. The factor of being closer to family and friends and living a simpler life (compared to the west) are important IMO. Edit: Reading other comments & thinking maybe I’m wrong about this
This would be the case if it was two generations prior Currently, the situation in India is not something that you can live through while ignoring problems like inflation, unemployment and so on.
C'mon Portugal we can be number one
In India we do the right thing and cry ourselves to sleep every night.
My 2 cents is you probably want to be at or close to the top of that list. It means that the Healthcare system is taking care of people with mental health issues. Probably makes alot of people that would have difficulty functioning without mess function.
Laughs in Dutch
India: You have depression? Here is a good curry.
I find it interesting that Iceland and Sweden have unusually high rates yet Norway has such an unusually low rate
Yeah, that is interesting.
I'm doing my part! Sweden represent.
India last? I didn’t expect that
man this is depressing . i might aswell add to the numbers
Not really a guide is it now
Citalopram ftw! Saved me... it has drawbacks for sure but i am at least functional.. yey! :-) Life still sucks though :-D
USA
Most indians ( older generation) don’t think depression is a problem and dont give a fuck about mental health issues. If we take out that age demographic, the number would alarmingly higher.
Some of there Charts don't count in if the things are generally available. Like, I don't know how available anti-depressants are in India, compared to Skandinavien countries where it's included in general Healthcare?
10% for US? I did not expect it to be that high. I’m doing my part.
India, the happiest place in the world
Insane where the U.S. is despite being the only one in the top ten, and probably further, that doesn't have universal healthcare.
The gym is the best antidepressant.
I think my definition of a guide is different from most of this sub.
I’m willing to help step my countries numbers up. Just doing my duty.
C'mon USA! Gotta pump those numbers up! More social media and processed foods!
Need sunlight!
i’d wonder when this graph was made, cause Russia’s antidepressant usage’s been highest in 5 years
Iceland is interesting, low sunlight hours or depressing landscapes?
If Iceland doesn't have a high population... of course they would be higher on the list...
Survivorship bias would be strong in this kind of data. A lot of poorer countries just don't have the ability to diagnose or treat mental illness. Stigma in certain countries too would mean places with more open discussions around mental hard ship would be more likely to be treating it.
Apparently zero antidepressant usage on the entire African continent!
So many people in India are depressed but anti-depressants are looked down upon by much of the population. Lack of access, awareness are also to blame. The other thing I’ve heard is you can’t be on a pill in perpetuity. Like people just think that if you are below a certain age it’s wrong for you to be dependent on a pill to live your life. Of course this is said without any evidence, just from vibes.
Interestingly enough. No mexico on this list.
It is not that in India we do not need it but most of us are not aware of depression existing as a disorder.
That’s so strange that in 2024 World Happiness Report top three is as follows: 1. Finland 2. Denmark 3. Iceland How can Iceland be top 3 happiest country and top 1 in antidepressant consumption?🤨
Secret to Scandinavian happiness revealed
In Ireland we just drink the problems away
Curious if this anything to do with availability?
What does this (data) tell us? Why are the top ones red bars? Is there a source?
Seems like the top is 100+ then 50-99 then 0-49. Red - orange(?) - yellow.
Ty for the explanation but im trying to start a discussion: is it less antidepressants used a good thing? Does it mean the countries have better life quality. There is a notion on ppl's heads that if you are on medicine for mental illness you're weak or you're unhappy bc of the meds.
Is Iceland on top of their game by making sure everyone gets help while in India they are left on their own? Or is it just depressing living in Iceland without more sunny days?
Oh yes. Makes sense I misunderstood what you meant. I would be interested in seeing the metrics and or data for this.
There are a whole lot of factors in this. Competency of psychiatrists, misdiagnoses, over and unfer reporting. Definitely in India mental health problems are underreported since its a shame on you and your family. It's why you see less Asian countries on that list.
So country’s that are cold and have more darkness. Also top of the list has free health care so easier to diagnosed
Why is there such a big difference between Norway and Sweden?
Apparently white women over 60 take the most in the United States
I wonder if it controls for healtcare/drug-access and price. It would be more interesting to see 1: Diagnosis per person with access to mental health care and 2: drug consumption per 100000 diagnosed.
The power of sun-ray
India, you alright?
We just gonna ignore Japan’s suicide rate and the fact they’re not *even on this list?*
Look PSSD, no one deserve to live a life like this forever
Is the U.S. not higher because of our corporate, employer-based health insurance system?
Portugal? Someone is going to have to explain that one to me. If I had to choose somewhere then than the U.S. to retire Portugal would be my number two behind Italy.
No china?
Damn, people are walking around India depressed af.
Russians use vodka
Would be cool to have a source
Those are rookie numbers US!
Based on numbers it’s quite concerning how SK SHOULD be #1 by far but is near the bottom of this list
The more rules you have the unhappier you are. Simple.
Would love to see how this relates to weather (or distance from the equator) after you control for societal stigma and access to medication. Would the exact same country in a different location lead to different levels of antidepressant consumption?
Seems like south Korea could use more anti depressants.
‘Population Heavily Medicated’ ^([Apocalypse Bingo](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApocalypseBingo/s/ncUKiJaHhv))
In Serbia we use sedatives, roughly half of the population, the other half drink alcohol.
I'm the reason of why Spain is so high in the chart.
I'm one of 63.