Wednesday, October 9
There are 450,000 depressed people in Berlin
Berlin is more depressed than most German cities, according to a new “Health Atlas” report, published by the Scientific Institute of the AOK health insurance company on Tuesday. Apparently, 450,000 people living in this city suffer from depression – which translates to 13.3 percent, or almost one in seven.
Although the data was collected only form people insured by AOK, the results are considered statistically reliable for the general population. Based on this, Germany’s most depressed city was Nuremberg (16.6 percent of the population), while the least depressed is Dresden (10.8 percent).
🛋️ Berlin needs help: How to get therapy in Germany
The figures also broke down differently among various professions. According to the report, salespeople selling clothing, shoes and sporting good were worst affected – suffering at three times the average rate of all Berlin employees – while the rate was also high in remedial care and among bus, tram and U-Bahn drivers. Women were statistically more likely to be depressed than men, although an AOK psychologist explained that this may be explained by a higher rate of people seeking professional help.
In order to distinguish clinical depression from a low mood, questions asked by therapists include examples like:
- Have you lost interest in things that used to give you pleasure?
- Do you get tired more quickly, do you sleep badly?
- Do you find it difficult to do everyday things?
