NEW DELHI: Indians are among the world's most depressed. According to a World Health Organization-sponsored study, while around 9% of people in India reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime, nearly 36% suffered from what is called Major Depressive Episode (MDE).

MDE is characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration, besides feeling depressed.

Lowest prevalence of MDE was in China (12%). The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years compared to 18.8 years in China, and 22.7 years in the US.

MDE is a phenomenon characterised by symptoms like sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, guilt or low self-worth feelings, disturbed sleep or loss of appetite etc. 

The study also signified that people living in wealthier nations are more depressed than those in relatively poorer ones as the average percentage of MDE was higher in high-income (28.1%) than in low to middle-income (19.8%) countries. 

WHO ranks depression as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide and projects that by 2020, it will be the second leading cause. 

The findings were published in BMC (BioMed Central) Medicine, a medical journal.