Middle-aged Europe is facing an epidemic of depression – and it may not be linked to the continent’s economic troubles, according to a new analysis.
Researchers found that as many as ten per cent of middle-aged people used anti-depressant medication last year.
And the most depressed countries are Portugal, France, Lithuania – and the UK, the researchers say.
The study was conducted jointly between Warwick University, UK, and the IZA Institute in Bonn, Germany.
The researchers studied nearly 30,000 people in 27 countries.
They found the heaviest users of depression drugs were middle-aged women who were unemployed, had low levels of education and had broken marriages or relationships.
And across the continent, levels of depression peak as people approach their 50th birthdays.
Researcher Professor Andrew Oswald, of Warwick University – a professor who has made a reputation seeking to measure happiness – said: “Antidepressants are a relatively new kind of commodity. We are only starting to get proper data on who takes them.
"But as we live in the richest and safest era in the history of humans, perhaps we are going to have to ask ourselves why one in ten of Europe’s middle-aged citizens need a pill to cope with life.
"That is an awful lot of people relying on chemical happiness.”
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