Case Study – A Survey on Depressive Symptoms among Youngsters

INTRODUCTION Depression is a common illness worldwide, with an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years. Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression. Over 700 000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds.In India, it is estimated that nearly one-third of patients seeking help from healthcare facilities could have symptoms related to depression, and the crude prevalence rate of mood disorder was estimated to vary from as low as 0.5 to as high as 78 per 1000 population. Further, in the present days, when the whole world is struggling with COVID-19; factors like social distancing, financial crisis, health problems during this pandemic has further increased the occurrence of depressive symptoms or stress.At its mildest, one may simply feel persistently low in spirit, while at its most, severe depression can make one feel suicidal and that life is no longer worth living.Depression among youngsters is associated with academic difficulties, risky behaviour engagement, non- suicidal self-injury in later stages and lower income levels, higher divorce rates, suicidality in adulthood. Consequently, identifying and treating this disorder is crucial. General practitioners and primary care providers are frequently the first line of contact for adolescents in times of distress and can be crucial to identify mental health issues amongst these patients. They can facilitate early identification of depression, initiate treatment and refer the adolescents for mental health specialists. It is necessary to make a timely and accurate diagnosis of depression and a correct differential diagnosis from other psychiatric disorders, due to the recurrent nature of this condition and its association with poor academic performance, functional impairment and problematic relationships with parents, siblings and peers. So, the objective of the current study was to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms among young adults in North Indian region. The study was a college based cross sectional survey for which a questionnaire of total 10 questions, was created by the faculty members and circulated as a google form. The responses were received on Likert scale with values 0 for strongly disagree to 3 for strongly agree. Among a total of 50 survey respondents, 54% (27) were males and 46% (23) were females. All of them were at the age of 19 to 40 years and 62% of the responses were received from students and others were either employed or running their own businesses.