It shouldn't be a matter of surprise that 71 per cent of the population suffers from depression. According to physicians, this is fast becoming the leading cause of suicides and affecting overall well being of people around the world. The causes of depression differ from developing countries to the developed world, yet fewer people seek professional help to combat the malaise.
The recent revelation of figures based on a survey of citizens of Dhaka attributes the disease to a combination of factors ranging from utter frustration in being caught up in snarling traffic thereby reducing quality family time and rest to overall worries about making ends meet due to spiralling prices of essentials. While extrapolation of a city's findings to the entire population can be described as inappropriate, this will have to do in the absence of national statistics. Undoubtedly, such a survey when it takes place will bring to the fore several other causes different but not dissimilar between urban and rural lives.
The uncertainty of educated young people desperately seeking jobs adds to the startling information of wrongdoing and easy earnings through corruption, nepotism and general misdemeanours to further an overwhelming sense of helplessness by those that try to follow the law. Had it been that this section of society was restricted it would have been one matter. The rat race pressure on young children in a society that has given up on letting them be children is producing offspring that are moody and depressed many reaching out to different forms of addiction. This could well be a cause for the less than impressive results in public examinations, especially in the liberal arts where creativity ideally should be expressed.
The fact is that even those employed, even working part time, are suffering and as management experts will vouch for, this affects overall productivity at work. The garments sector, one of the largest employers, have, or at least some of them introduced several measures to ensure peace of mind of their workforce. Wages have increased but in the general context Bangladesh's salary structure after tax is often inadequate to meet the most basic of living standards. Others that work in the public and private sectors are as a whole constantly fretting over managing their monthly expenses from children education to food on the table. House rents have gone up by 400%, according to one study compared to much lower increase in wages. So much so that half of an individual's salary often goes towards paying house rent and utility bills.
Having said as much people look for and do find their own way of combating depression through whatever limited recreational facilities are on offer. The causes are different in the West where with basic necessities essentially covered by some form of the other the drive for individualism, largely fuelled by social media is having a negative effect. The family concept is fast disappearing, people are having less children, are less inclined to conjugal life thereby creating loneliness that is a key factor leading to depression. In the United States, a survey on the millennials suggests that they aren't attracted by marriage, sex or any urge to have children. Europe is so driven by career and individualism that its population is heading towards negative growth, pretty much the same as their interest rates.
The issue is a concern for developing countries such as Bangladesh, given the need to raise productivity in order to keep pace with competitive business in the world. There is more to productivity improvements than automation and better processes. The key is a happy and contented workforce. That barring the few examples this happiness doesn't exist is what experts say about. The lack of proper institutions to treat depression as well as the absence of qualified personnel to provide quality service is just as much of concern.
The rural areas may well provide an answer. Battered by the vagaries of nature, people living there invariably have to pick up the pieces after any natural disaster out of necessity and in the absence of post-disaster assistance. The demands of life help in pulling them out of depression but it's also about their approach to life and their contentment with the simple things of life. Urban life with its glittering beckoning does more than publicise products and services it adds to the element that brings out sighs more than an 'Oh I wish'.
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