By Annie Freeda Cruez

PSYCHIATRIC illness is ranked fourth among the nation's burden of disease, according to a 2006 local study.

(Burden of disease refers to the impact of a health problem in terms of financial cost, mortality and morbidity, among other indicators.)

And among mental illnesses, depression makes up 45 per cent of the burden of disease.

This study covered slightly over 110 diseases in the country.

"Like many other parts of the world, depression is a major problem in Malaysia," says Ampang Hospital senior consultant psychiatrist Dr Lim Chong Hum.

"Another recent study found that the prevalence of major depression and other depressive illnesses in a semi-urban primary healthcare setting was 14.4 per cent."

A case in point is a female teacher who developed depression and suicidal tendencies after she was transferred to another town far from her home and family.

"When her symptoms worsened, she was taken to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. She was treated within two weeks. With medication, counselling and moral support, her condition improved in a month," says Dr Lim.

Depression is a psychiatric disorder in which the predominant disturbance is a depressed mood. It can happen to anyone.

Major depression, or major depressive disorder, is a more severe form of depression that tends to occur in episodes. But it can also run chronically, that is it may persist over long periods, says Dr Lim.

Its severity depends on various aspects, including how commonly it occurs, its impact on the sufferer and its effect on society.

Dr Lim says there is a range of values within which the frequency of major depression falls. It's between five and 17 per cent in a community. This refers to the proportion of individuals at any point in time with major depression either currently or in the past.

Dr Lim says over a one-year period, about six per cent of individuals will suffer from the condition.