Depression in the Member States

11.11.2013

Question for written answer E-012753-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Vito Bonsignore (PPE) , Giuseppe Gargani (PPE) , Marco Scurria (PPE) , Paolo Bartolozzi (PPE) , Barbara Matera (PPE) , Lara Comi (PPE) , Giovanni La Via (PPE) , Crescenzio Rivellini (PPE) , Roberta Angelilli (PPE) , Aldo Patriciello (PPE) , Erminia Mazzoni (PPE)

According to a University of Queensland study recently published by the Public Library of Science, depression is the second leading cause of disability worldwide after heart disease.

The EU Member States appear in the middle of the table of depression rates by country.

The study shows that depression and the disability it causes directly affect productivity and have a greater impact on people of working age.

1. Will the Commission carry out more detailed studies, where none currently exist, to assess the negative effects of depression in terms of reduced productivity and impoverishment of human capital?

2. In view of the emphasis rightly placed on heart disease prevention (such as information campaigns on diet and lifestyle and active and passive smoking), what information and awareness-raising initiatives does the Commission intend to adopt, in particular with regard to the population groups most at risk, in parallel with the operational and financial efforts to prevent social hardship?

3. With regard to the particular vulnerability of the persons concerned, what steps have been taken to raise public awareness of this type of illness, the prevalence of which has been recognised since the beginning of psychiatry and is scientifically proven, but which is frequently stigmatised by society, with sufferers being subjected to subtle forms of discrimination?

OJ C 86 E, 25/03/2014