With major depression being one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, impacting on many different areas of life, including pregnancy and work absence,  treatment and management of this debilitating condition garners a lot of attention.  However, from a public health perspective, better understanding the patterns and causes of depression will help guide initiatives to reduce the impact of depression on individuals and society.

In a new research article published this week in BMC Medicine, Bromet and colleagues from around the world present the results of their multi-national study looking at the epidemiology of major depressive episode from 18 countries (including low/medium and high income nations), reporting on  prevalence, impairment and demographic aspects.  Although they find differences between low/medium-income and high income countries, they also find patterns that are not country or income specific.  

Visit the BMC Medicine website to read the full article and find out what other interesting insights the authors are able to make into this global problem, as well as their suggestions for moving forward in this field of research.