Number Of People Hospitalized For Depression In Korea Reaches Around 525,000 In 2014; Refusal To Undergo Treatment Could Lead to Spike in Numbers

In 2014, around 525,000 people in South Korea were hospitalized for depression, a massive increase from the recorded 70,000 cases of depression in 2010, the Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.

People who are under a lot of emotional stress at work are more prone to developing depression. Professor Kim In Ah at Yonsei University studied 5,771 workers found that depression was more prevalent among people who were stressed out with work.

Men who were emotionally stressed were 3.4 times at risk of depression, while women were 3.9 times more likely to become depressed.  Consequently, men and women were 3.7 times and 2.9 times more prone to entertaining suicidal thoughts.

For students, the hyper-competitive society and constant pressure to succeed pushes them into depression, the Daily Mail noted Oct. 23.

Despite the alarming number of suicides in the country, many South Koreans largely refuse psychotherapy to treat their anxieties and stress. Their resistance to therapy threatens a spike in the rate of depression in the future.

"Talking openly about emotional problems is still taboo," Dr. Kim Hyong Soo, psychologist and professor at Chosun University, told the New York Times.

He added that South Koreans tend to just deal with problems on their own, fearing that they'll be "stigmatized for the rest of their life" if they seek the help of a psychoanalyst.

Dr. Oh Kyung Ja, a Harvard-trained professor of clinical psychology at Yonsei University, said the number of Koreans who are accepting to Western psychotherapy is limited to those who are highly educated or familiar to Western culture.

In response to the growing depression and suicide rate, the Seoul Hyowon Healing Centre lets people experience death. Through this exercise, people are made to make fake wills, and lie inside coffins while they are given mock funeral services.

The concept behind the "death experience" aims to teach people to appreciate life again, by showing them what death feels like.

Depression is manifested by loss of interest in activities, weight loss or gain, insomnia, loss of energy and frequent thoughts of suicide.