WHO paints stark picture of depression

GENEVA - More than four percent of the world's population lives with depression, and women, youth and the elderly are the most prone to its disabling effects, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Thanks in part to longer life expectancies, an estimated 322 million people suffered depressive disorders in 2015, a rise of 18.4 percent in a decade, the United Nations agency said in a report.

Global economic losses exceed $1 trillion a year, it said, referring to lost productivity due to apathy or lack of energy that lead to an inability to function at work or cope with daily life.