Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, said new data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO said more than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18 percent between 2005 and 2015. Lack of support for people with mental disorders coupled with a fear of stigma prevents many from accessing the treatment they need to live healthy, productive lives.

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The new estimates were released in the lead-up to World Health Day on April 7, the high point in WHO's year-long campaign called "Depression: Let's Talk." The overall goal of the campaign is to get more people with depression everywhere in the world to seek and get help.

Depression is a common mental illness characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for 14 days or longer

In addition, people with depression normally have several of the following: a loss of energy; a change in appetite; sleeping more or less; anxiety; reduced concentration; indecisiveness; restlessness; feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

"These new figures are a wake-up call for all countries to re-think their approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency that it deserves," said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan.

One of the first steps is to address issues around prejudice and discrimination.

"The continuing stigma associated with mental illness was the reason why we decided to name our campaign Depression: Let's Talk," said Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO.

"For someone living with depression, talking to a person they trust is often the first step towards treatment and recovery."

Increased investment is also needed. In many countries, there is no, or very little, support available for people with mental health disorders.

Even in high-income countries, nearly 50 percent of people with depression don't get treatment. On average, just three percent of government health budgets are invested in mental health, varying from less than one percent in low-income countries to five percent in high-income countries.

Treatment usually involves either a talking therapy or antidepressant medication or a combination of the two. Both approaches can be provided by non-specialist health-workers, following a short course of training, and using WHO's mhGAP Intervention Guide.

Failure to act is costly. According to a WHO-led study, low levels of recognition and access to care for depression and another common mental disorder, anxiety, result in a global economic loss of $1 trillion every year. The study calculated treatment costs and health outcomes in 36 low-, middle- and high-income countries for the 15 years from 2016-2030.

The losses are incurred by households, employers and governments. Households lose out financially when people cannot work. Employers suffer when employees become less productive and are unable to work. Governments have to pay higher health and welfare expenditures.

WHO also identified strong links between depression and other non-communicable disorders and disease. Depression increases the risk of substance use disorders and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The opposite is also true, meaning that people with these other conditions have a higher risk of depression.

Depression is also an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

"A better understanding of depression and how it can be treated, while essential, is just the beginning. What needs to follow is sustained scale-up of mental health services accessible to everyone, even the most remote populations in the world, said Dr. Saxena.

Tagsdepression, World Health Organization, WHO, World Health Day, Dr Shekhar Saxena, non-communicable disorders, Suicide