Those with the lowest incomes in a community suffer 1.5 to 3 times more frequently from depression, anxiety, and other common mental illnesses than those with the highest incomes (5).
People of any socioeconomic background can experience mental health conditions. You can have depression regardless of how much money you have or make. Although money makes some aspects of life easier, there are other factors that play into mental health and well-being.
Low Income & its effects on mental health
According to the CDC, 8.7% of people who have incomes below the poverty level report severe psychological distress.
Low socio-economic status (SES) has been found to be associated with a higher prevalence of depression.
Several mechanisms might increase the risk of individuals with lower income to develop mental health problems. These mechanisms may include overcrowding, hunger, violence, social networks, and a decreased capacity to acquire health care for physical health problems.
In addition to those well-documented costs, it turns out that the poor not only experience more stress than the rich on a daily basis, but it is also more likely to be “bad” stress, which can have long-term effects on the ability to plan for and invest in the future.
Additionally, a Northwestern Mutual study4 found that 44 percent of Americans stated that financial concerns were their number one stressor, with more than one in four feeling depressed about finances at least monthly and two out of ten feeling depressed weekly, daily, or hourly.
Depression is about 50% more common among women than among men. Worldwide, more than 10% of pregnant women and women who have just given birth experience depression (2).
However, certain groups of people may be more likely to experience the condition. Females are more likely to experience depression than males. Adults aged 18–25 years are most likely to have at least one major depressive episode.
The average age of onset for major depressive disorder is between 35 and 40 years of age. Onset in early adulthood may be linked with more depressive episodes, a longer duration of illness, and therefore a more difficult clinical course.
In fact, some of the most successful people in history have suffered from relentless, incapacitating depression – some have won their battles, or, at least, continued to battle. Some, sadly, succumb to it. So why does depression affect the super-successful, the ones who seem have it all?
Other researchers have come to similar conclusions that poverty causes depression or higher levels of sadness, though it doesn't seem to always be a caused by poverty itself. It would seem that much of that sadness is based on inhibited brain functioning and self-imposed feelings of inadequacy.
Among people living in poverty, those studies also found, mental illnesses were more severe, lasted longer and had worse outcomes.
The research between salary and happiness suggests similar insights. Even those on the Forbes 100 wealthiest were only slightly happier than the average Americans, according to a study by Ed Diener of the University of Illinois.
Once you hit an annual household income of $75,000 (£62,000), earning more money didn't make you any happier. In 2021, the happiness researcher Matthew Killingsworth released a dissenting study, showing that happiness increased with income and there wasn't evidence of a plateau.
In developed countries, urban dwellers have a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders, and specifically mood and anxiety disorders, compared to rural counterparts (Peen et al., 2010).
In their lifetimes, about one in five Australians will experience depression. Around the world, depression affects around 300 million people.
Some cultures allow people to express feelings with ease while others suppress those feelings. According to Shah, some global reports indicate that depression is more common in certain countries, such as large countries like the United States, China, India and Bangladesh.
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression. Depression can occur at any age.
Two main factors contributing to the rise in the number of people with depression are social media and the home environment.
The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 39.3% for participants with family income under $20,000, 25.5% for participants with family income from $20,000–$75,000, and 14.9% for participants with family income greater than $75,000.
While many of the richest people in America lost money when the stock market crashed, the upper classes as a whole still retained much of the wealth which they had held before the Depression and in most cases did not suffer from unemployment.
Money does NOT stay with you because you fear losing it. It is associated with Lakshmi which leads to 'Lakshya' meaning 'goal'; fulfillment of your goal.