Hungarians the most depressed in Europe

The tendency of being depressed is still something that characterises Hungarian society. Portfolio.hu writes that 10.5% of the adult Hungarian population experiences the symptoms of depression, which is the highest rate among the countries of the European Union.

Due to depression, one feels constant sadness, loses his/her interest towards activities that he/she enjoys otherwise, and becomes incapable of running everyday errands.

Out of the countries of EU, the Hungarian adult population is the most depressed, 10.5% of them experience the symptoms of the disease. We are followed by the Portuguese (10.4%) and the Swedish (9%) on the scale.

What’s interesting is that the three nations who experience the least amount of symptoms are all in the neighbourhood of Hungary. They are the Czechs (3.2%), the Slovakians (3.5%) and the Croatians (3.9%).

Women experience depression more frequently than men. In the EU, 5.5% of male adults and 7.9% of female adults are affected by the disease. Regarding Hungary, this rate is 8.6% in the case of men and 12.3% in the case of women. With this rate Hungarian women are “only” the second most depressed after Portuguese women.

The higher someone is educated, the less probable depression is. The rate of symptoms is twice as big among people with primary school degree as among people with diploma. Concerning Hungary, 21.8% of those with only a primary school degree, 9% of those with a high school diploma, and 4.8% of those with a diploma experience depressive symptoms.

The occurrence of depression is also connected to income rates. According to Eurostat, more people suffer from depression in the lowest income quintile than in the upper quintile. These rates are 22.1% and 4.2% in Hungary, meaning that the poorest are five times more prone to depression than the wealthiest.

Photo: www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

Ce: bm

Source: http://www.portfolio.hu/