Depression becoming top global issue – Armenian psychologist

Depression is becoming a dominant problem across the globe, causing considerable harm to developing economies, a clinical psychologist has said, citing statistical records.

At a news conference on Thursday, Mihrdat Madatyan warned against linking the problem to social well-being, noting that it has hit the highest records in the Scandinavian states (where living standards are thought to be on a top level).

“Depression is a long-lasting mental breakdown that becomes an everyday problem affecting the quality of life. Among the key reasons of depression is urbanization, which reduces the human communication and lowers qualities. While many years ago, human communication was a normal practice, it has now become more internet-based,” he said, attributing the problem also to daily concerns and exhaustion.

The specialist said further that depression also affects the ability of decision-making, causing a human being to develop a negative attitude to himself or herself. He said the climate change, caused by the lack of son and gloomy weather in the spring and autumn period, often deteriorates the problem.

“We live in nature, so if nature suffers from depression, we suffer from it too,” Madatyan added.

Citing last year’s statistics, he noted further that every third person appears to be suffering from the problem. “While in the 1990’s, depression rate was 20% on the global level, it has now reached 60%,” he said.