Eun-young Kim (30, pseudonym) visited the psychiatrist for the first time last year. Due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), as the period of working from home increased and the number of times he went out decreased, he began to become depressed rapidly. As I ordered the food to be delivered, I had nothing to go outside except when I was throwing away the trash, and I rarely had a conversation with anyone except during a video conference. Mr. Kim said, “The depressed days lasted for several days all day, and I wanted to go to the hospital because it wouldn’t work as it is,” he said.
Last year, more than 1 million people visited the hospital for mood disorders such as depression. While vague anxiety and depression caused by fierce competition are prevalent throughout society, the corona 19 epidemic has also added to the number of people complaining of mood disorders.
Especially many female patients in their twenties… Most of them have depression and bipolar disorder.
According to the National Health Insurance Corporation on the 5th, a total of 1017,000 people received treatment for mood disorders last year. This is the first time that the number of patients treated with mood disorders has exceeded 1 million. It was an increase of 239,000 people compared to 5 years ago (778,000 people), and the annual average increase rate was 6.9%.
By age, 20s were the most at 16.8%, followed by 60s (16.2%) and 50s (14.4%). By gender, there were about 671,000 women, twice as many as men (about 345,000). The cost of treatment per person for mood disorders was also 665,000 won, an increase of 20.3% compared to five years ago.
Among the causes of mood disorder treatment, there were many diseases related to depression and bipolar disorder. There were 766,000 patients with depressive episodes, 112,000 patients with bipolar affective disorder (manic depression), and 84,000 patients with persistent mood disorders.
Improved awareness of depression treatment, blamed for COVID-19
Experts believe that improved awareness of depression and stress from Corona 19 led to an increase in the diagnosis of mood disorders. Baek Jong-woo, a professor of mental health at Kyung Hee University, said, “As the age of aging is rapidly advancing along with industrialization and nuclear family, depression is inevitably increasing. But unlike in the past, as the prejudice against psychiatric treatment decreases, more people are visiting the hospital. He explained.
Lee Hae-guk, a professor of psychiatry at the Catholic University of Korea, also said, “Since Corona 19, there have been a lot of people looking for psychiatric treatment to the point that the number of psychiatric patients has increased.” It seems to be,” he said. In fact, the drinking and suicide rate of women in their 20s and 30s rose sharply last year. Professor Lee stressed, “When preparing for post-corona, we must discuss in depth how to build not only the economic safety net, but also the emotional safety net.”
Jinjoo Kim reporter [email protected]
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