Depression grips over a million Dutch people

Eight percent of the Dutch population aged 12 years and older admitted to suffering from depression in 2014. That is more than 1 million people. Depression is most common around in middle aged people, and more common in women than in men, 9 percent and six percent respectively, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Monday. Depression seems most common in people in their middle age, but decreases again after the "midlife period", according to the statistics office. One in ten people in their 40's and 50's indicated that they felt depressed during 2014. Of the over 65 year olds, 6 percent had depression in that year. Depression was least common among kids between the ages of 12 and 16, with less than one percent dealing with it. Averaged over all ages, women were given antidepressants almost twice as often as men in 2013, nearly 8 percent of women and 4 percent of men. Statistics Netherlands also notice a link between depression and level of education. Only 3 percent of the Dutch population that has a masters degree indicated that they experienced depression over 2014. Among those with only a primary school education, the proportion is five times higher at 15 percent.