15 Most Depressed Countries in the World in 2017

Our list of the most depressed countries in the world in 2017 is a stark reminder of the existence of a serious illness, which is underdiagnosed and often not treated at all, to the point that there are over 300 million depressed people in the world.

You might think that the world has improved leaps and bounds in the last century or so, and technology has played a crucial rule in this. But wait, you say, technology has made our leaves easier. After all, you can now exchange messages with loved ones thousands of miles away in the blink of an eye. Such a feat would have been considered impossible less than 50 years ago. However, for me, technology has increased competition and pressure in a manner that has seen suicide rates steadily increase each year. The one thing that older generations had, and we are now deprived of, is peace. Peace of mind no longer exists. We barely finish one thing before we move onto another. And it is never enough. We believe we have goals and that we’re going somewhere, but in the end, all we manage to accomplish is running around in circles.

This is a global phenomenon, and not restricted to a few countries or even continents. Europe, which is considered to be one of the most advanced continents in the world, has also seen a lot of depression in recent years. According to recent statistics, topping the list of most depressed countries in Europe is Ukraine. However, Europe also tends to be host to the happiest countries in the world. If that is more up your alley, head on over to the 10 least depressed countries in the world.

There is a significant relationship between depression and anxiety. Anxiety quite often results in depression, and it is up to the people to get anxiety diagnosed before it turns into depression. Surprisingly, if you consider anxiety rates by country, you’ll notice that the rich countries tend to have a higher anxiety rate than the poor ones.

It is important to remember that depression is not a new disease; it has just never been diagnosed as such. Previously, it was considered to be a weakness and hence, people were often forced to hide it instead of seeking treatment. Go back just a few years ago and check out depression rates by country 2014, for example. What are you going to realize is that depression rate is rising rapidly. Meaning, more and more people out there are seeking help. In case you want to learn about depression rates in 2015, you should head on over to the 11 countries with the highest depression rates in the world.

While improvements have been made in the diagnosis of depression, the only way this can be significantly expedited is if we start to accept mental illness as a proper illness rather than a weakness. Mental illness is synonymous with depression; people with mental illnesses are far more likely to be depressed than those who don’t have one. This may lead you to wonder what country has the most mental illness? The answer to that, unsurprisingly, is USA.

The first step to eradicating or at least controlling depression is to determine the most depressed countries in the world in 2017. Since the year 2017 is still ongoing, we’ve had to rely on statistics relating to depression statistics by country 2016. For this, we obtained the World Happiness Report 2017, and worked our way down, with the country falling last in the report, being  the most depressed country while the countries which topped the list were among the least depressed countries. We also obtained the WHO report on Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders, which formed another criterion for our rankings. We calculated the average rankings of the countries in each report, and to find out what ended up with, please read further on!

15. Indonesia

While Indonesia is a relatively stable country, when you consider its growth and economy, it is still one of the most depressed countries in the world in 2017, with millions of its citizens suffering from the disease, which has also led to a rise in the suicide rates of the country.

14. Yemen

Yemen has been engulfed in civil war, which has ruined the lives of a large number of people residing in the country. Civil war tends to destroy the economy and the standard of living of a country, thereby increasing the rate of those falling into the depression by a significant percentage. Unfortunately, this trend seems set to continue as there are no signs of a peaceful solution yet.

13. Sudan

Many African countries make the list of the most depressed countries in the world in 2017, mainly due to a poor standard of living. Sudan is no exception to this concept, with a large section of the population barely able to make ends meet. Unless there is a sharp improvement in the economy of Sudan, depression will continue to rise significantly.

12. Egypt

Egypt was the center of a successful revolution back in 2011, and it seemed to herald in the dawn of a new era. However, that is not exactly how things panned out.  In Egypt, depression is still not taken seriously, though its younger generation is fighting to end this stigma once and for all.

11. Afghanistan

Ever since the Taliban took power, Afghanistan has been in a downward spiral from which there seems to be no escape. Contrary to popular belief, the Taliban didn’t just spring up one beautiful day. They were armed by the United States and Pakistan to counter the growing presence of the then Soviet Union in the area. However, the Taliban turned out to be disobedient (which must have been a huge surprise for those arming people with extremist ideologies), and Afghanistan is yet to recover.

10. China

China has perhaps the largest population suffering from depression, with over 100 million said to be suffering from the disease. That is greater than the population of most of the countries on the Earth! This may be due to the presence of intense competition in the country, which leads to people being overworked and not being able to manage a work-life balance.

9. Uganda

Uganda is one of the most depressed countries in the world in 2017, and when you consider the fact that there are few facilities available for diagnosing the disease, it is easy to understand why.

8. Nigeria

Depression in Nigeria is such a serious issue that it is the greatest threat behind the possibility of Nigeria being one of the most suicide prone countries in the world.

7. DR Congo

I was not kidding when I said African countries are some of the most depressed countries in the world in 2017. The citizens of the country have a poor standard of living, with many living well below the poverty line, and financial issues are one of the main reasons behind the depression epidemic in the country. Furthermore, the lack of facilities for mental health care in the country has resulted in a majority of depressed people not being diagnosed as such. Obviously, if one isn’t even diagnosed properly, the question of proper treatment does not even arise.Pixabay

6. Ukraine

Ukraine suffered major devastation due to the European financial crisis which hit a decade ago and is yet to completely recover. Not to mention well known 2013/2014 Ukraine crises. Hence, its citizens have often been unable to find jobs, and the unemployment rate has risen significantly, which in turn is one of the major reasons behind the grip of depression in the country.

5. Iran

Iran has been isolated by the world ever since it decided to attain and develop nuclear weapons. The global sanctions placed on the country has led to it being deprived of many basic amenities, and the most common illness the youth in the country faces is depression. The government needs to acknowledge this fact and help the people overcome this illness, or it will simply fester and grow exponentially.

4. Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, depression contributes to around 6.5% of the total illnesses in the country, which is a very alarming statistic.  Unfortunately, there are few facilities developed in the country which have the power to help fight this illness.

3. Tanzania

Of all the mental illnesses in the country, depression accounted for around 7.5% of the total, which is why Tanzania is one of the most depressed countries in the world in 2017.

2. Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most populated countries in the world, and then when you realize that nearly 5% of the population has suffered from some form of depression, it really puts the figure into perspective. According to the World Health Organization, more than 6 million Bangladeshis suffer from depression, and if even 1% of those suffering commit suicide due to this illness, this means 60,000 people killing themselves due to depression alone!

1. India

The number one on our list of the most depressed countries in the world in 2017 is India, which is home to the world’s largest democracy. According to the World Health Organization, over 50 million people suffer from depression in India! 50 million people! That figure is incredibly hard to fathom. Poverty is one of the primary reasons for depression in a country where a significant population lives well below the poverty line. While India is fighting hard to become one of the top economies in the world, as well as spending billions of dollars on weapons and its army, maybe it would do well to spare some money to improve the standard of the living in the country.