"Not Just Me"… Over 1 Million Depression Patients, Most Are Women in Their 20s

The number of depression patients exceeded 1 million last year.

According to data titled 'Status of Depression Treatment Patients in the Last 5 Years (2018?2022)' received by Nam In-soon, a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, from the National Health Insurance Service on the 3rd, the number of people who visited hospitals for depression was 1,000,744 last year.

Photo by Pixabay

Last year was the only year during the survey period when the number of depression patients exceeded 1 million. This is the result of a steady increase without any decrease. The number of depression patients increased daily from about 750,000 in 2018, about 790,000 in 2019, about 830,000 in 2020, to about 910,000 in 2021. The 1,000,744 patients last year represent a 32.9% increase compared to 2018, the start of the survey.

As of last year, by gender, there were 674,555 women, more than twice the 326,189 men.

By age group, people in their 20s were the largest group with 185,942 (18.6%). This was followed by those in their 30s with 160,108 (16%), 60s with 143,090 (14.3%), 40s with 142,086 (14.2%), 50s with 126,453 (12.6%), 70s with 110,883 (11.1%), and 80 and older with 71,021 (7.1%).

Considering both gender and age, the group that received the most treatment for depression was women in their 20s. Last year alone, 121,534 (12.1%) received treatment.

The increase in female patients in their 20s has been the steepest over the past five years. Compared to 2018, the start of the survey, the number has doubled.

Depression is a disorder characterized mainly by decreased motivation and feelings of sadness, causing various cognitive and psychosomatic symptoms that lead to a decline in daily functioning.