Over 300 million people (4.3 per cent) of the global population were living with depression in 2015, a new World Health Organization (WHO) study says. This is an 18 per cent increase between 2005 and 2015.
Depression is the single largest contributor to global disability (7.5 per cent of all years lived with disability in 2015) and is a major contributor to suicides, with numbers close to 800,000 per year. Suicide was the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally in 2015. Characterised by sadness, loss of interest, feelings of guilt, low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, tiredness and poor concentration, depression can be long lasting and recurrent, WHO says.

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