30m melancholics

By The Economist online

A new study estimates the number of people with mental disorders in Europe

OVER 38% of all Europeans, or 165m people, suffered from a mental disorder in 2010, according to a new study published this week in European Neuropsychopharmacology. The authors, led by Professor Hans-Ullrich Wittchen of Technische Universität Dresden, analysed 27 conditions using data, studies and surveys for the 27 countries of the European Union, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The most common condition is depression. Over 30m people were affected by it, or 6.9% of the population. The second most frequent diagnosis is of specific phobias—such as of spiders. Those suffering from alcohol dependence are conservatively estimated at 14.6m, a considerably larger number than the 2.4m people with drug dependency issues (though some may suffer from both).