In my search of the World Wide Web for information about the epidemiology of mental disorders, I came upon an article by Alice B. Walton published on October 4, 2011, in The Atlantic that surprised me with its bold title: “Why More Americans Suffer from Mental Disorders than Anyone Else.” According to the byline, more than one in four Americans experience some sort of mental disorder each year. There are mood disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, and the less severe dysthymia or low-grade depression; anxiety disorders like generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder; substance abuse; and impulse control disorder like attention deficit or hyperactivity disorder. The main research in epidemiology of mental disorders is conducted by the World Health Organization. And here is what Walton has to say about research concerning depression:

Despite ongoing research, the predictors of mental health disorders are still evasive, even for the most common, like depression. While a nation’s wealth factor would seem to have an impact, it’s clear from the data that the relationship is complex. Ron Kessler, PhD, the Harvard researcher who headed much of the WHO’s mental health research, says that by and large people in less-developed countries are less depressed. After all, he says, when you’re literally trying to survive, who has time for depression? Americans, on the other hand, many of whom lead relatively comfortable lives, blow other nations away in the depression factor, leading some to suggest that depression is a “luxury disorder.”

Of all the psychological problems, mood disorders, including major depression, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder, are the most prevalent in America. Interestingly, women are fifty percent more likely to suffer from mood disorders than men. About nineteen percent of all adults suffer from an anxiety disorder each year, but this number rises to thirty-one percent over their lifetimes. Depression is on the rise in America, as well as in many developed countries. The rise is accelerating, as well. And research shows that depression is likely to become the most important mental disorder in the developed world in the years to come. Which takes me back to my original hypothesis that mental disorders and civilization go together (“On the Epidemiology of Depression,” May 18, 2015). Although I could spend more time with WHO’s statistics, I am satisfied with my investigation to date. My hypothesis appears to be reasonably well founded.