Youth depression rates soar amid mounting debts, social isolation

Social Affairs

Published: 06 Nov. 2023, 18:16 Updated: 06 Nov. 2023, 18:28

Youth depression rates soar amid mounting debts, social isolation

A young woman sits alone with nobody around. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

The number of people suffering from depression exceeded 1 million last year.

More concerning, however, is the rising prevalence of depression in people in their 20s and 30s, many of whom are drowning in oceans of debts.

According to data provided by the National Health Insurance Service, 1,000,744 people received treatment for depression last year, a 44.79 percent rise from 2017.

The number of young people who received treatment soared at an even faster rate.

Depression diagnoses per age group [NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SERVICE, NAM IN-SOON, MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELFARE]

Last year, 350,000 people between the ages of 20 and 39 received treatment for depression, accounting for 35 percent of total patients.

The figure had more than doubled from 2017 when just 150,000 people between the ages of 20 and 39 received treatment.

Kwon Jun-soo, a psychiatry professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine, says the actual figure could be much higher as many young people are unaware they are suffering from depression.

“There could be a lot more people in their 20s and 30s who haven’t been diagnosed with depression and have overlooked their severe condition or are on the verge of becoming depressed,” he said.

Kwon estimates the number of young people with undiagnosed depression to be between 1.3 million and 1.5 million.

Considering that there are 13.4 million people in the country in their 20s and 30s, that would suggest that one in 10 people in that age group is suffering from depression or at high risk.

A 37-year-old, who only wished to be identified as Lee, said he didn’t realize he was already suffering from depression.

“Even though I was working, I couldn’t finish my given work, and I didn’t have the motivation to start something new,” Lee said. “I couldn’t sleep, and even if I did, I kept waking in the middle.”

Lee said at first, he thought those symptoms were caused by fatigue.

“But as the symptoms continued for a month, I went for a checkup where I was diagnosed with depression,” Lee said.

He has been receiving treatment for the last seven months. Despite this, he says he's seen little improvement.

“The sources of my problems, the huge pile of debt on top of interest payments and the children’s tuition expenses, haven't gone away, so nothing has improved,” Lee said. “The future feels bleak as I can only wonder if I'll have to pay off the debt for the rest of my life.”

Tough times and mountains of debt

The SNU psychiatrist Kwon says increasing depression among young people could have a severe impact on society.

“Young people in their 20s and 30s have to lead the future,” Kwon said. “If these young people are sucked into depression, society overall will inevitably be depressed.”

“Society will be much stiffer, isolated and stagnant,” Kwon said.

Heavy financial burdens accompanied by difficult economic conditions and psychological isolation, which give rise to alienation, are the main forces driving the alarming rise in depression.

The toxic perception that people without solid jobs or homes of their own are failures isn't helping matters.

This perception drove many young people to take out massive loans to buy homes when interest rates were low.

Others dove into the stock market with massive loans when the indexes were breaking records a few years ago.

Interest rates for mortgage and household loans have increased. [NEWS1]

As property prices soared, more young people — fearing they might miss the real estate gravy train — took out even larger loans. In so doing, they got in over their head.

Some 476 trillion won ($352 billion) in fresh loans were taken out last year. Nearly one-third — 133 trillion won — were taken out by people in their 20s and 30s.

Most of the loans to young people went to buying homes.

Of the loans extended to young people, 77.4 trillion won went to mortgages, and 8.5 trillion won were unsecured loans.

Young people also borrowed nearly 50 trillion won from brokers for margin trading.

Overdue payments have been rising at an alarming rate, too.

Overdue loans to young people amounted to 494 billion won as of July this year. Last year, delinquent loans amounted to 352.4 billion won.

Kim Jung-myeong, a 35-year-old who works for a small and midsize company, said he had no choice but to take out as many loans as he could.

“A person is already a failure when they fail to get a proper job at a big company or public entity,” Kim said. “You become a failure for a second time if you can’t afford to buy a house.”

Lee Sang-hoon, 34, said he took out a mortgage six months ago because he believed he wouldn’t get another chance to buy his own apartment.

“I stretched myself to get a loan because it was now or never,” Lee said.

However, he confessed that he is overwhelmed by the monthly interest payments of 1 million won, especially as interest rates have climbed with the Korean central bank tightening the money supply to combat inflation.

Lee feels a clear divide between the rich who inherit their parents’ wealth and everyone else.

“Some people live their lives without breaking a sweat in apartments their parents handed down to them,” Lee said. “But for the average person like me, we must struggle to buy a single apartment. And even if we do, it’s not easy to keep them.”

“I am very aware that the world is unfair,” Lee said. “But I feel underprivileged, learning that there are social classes one cannot overcome.”

Polarized society with little mobility

A man looks at the job consulting booth at the Employment Center in Mapo District, western Seoul, managed by Korea Employment Information Service. [YONHAP]

The SNU psychiatrist said economic trouble is the biggest reason for the rising depression among young people.

The letter “N” stands for natural numbers, while “po” is the abbreviation of pogi, which means “giving up.”

“Young people are the ‘N-po’ generation, which has given up on getting jobs and homeownership,” Kwon said. “Because of the daunting economy and the uncertain future, they fall into depression.”

Sometimes, such depression caused by anxiety over social class has led to suicide.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s white paper on suicide last year, the feeling of deprivation caused by social class differences was the most significant cause of suicide.

The paper noted that the more a young person feels relatively deprived, the more pessimistic that person becomes about their prospects, leading to isolation from society and increasing the risk of suicide.

Medical experts believe that most people who took their own lives suffered from depression.

A research paper published in “Health and Social Welfare Review” in April reported that 42.1 percent or 460 out of 1,012 people between 20 and 39 who were surveyed said they had considered suicide at least once.

Kim Woo-yeon, who is in his 20s, was among those who considered suicide.

“I had no job, and I was economically struggling,” Kim said. “I thought I would be at peace if I died.”

“But at one point, I got terrified that such thoughts came so naturally,” Kim said.

In a Health Ministry study on over 26,500 people who were rushed to 80 hospital emergency rooms after suicide attempts last year, 28 percent or 7,400 were people in their 20s, while 13.6 percent or 3,600 were in their 30s.

The economy is not the only factor driving up depression rates in young people.

Impact of Covid-19, social media

The isolation forced upon people during the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020 has played a significant role.

“During Covid-19, people had to work from home and take classes online,” said Lim Myung-ho, a psychology and psychotherapy professor at Dankook University. “Our surrounding environment had changed where the barrier between work, school and rest became blurred.”

“The positive emotional exchanges from meeting people in person and spending time outdoors had been reduced,” Lim added. “Because we were isolated in a very limited space, depression appears to have worsened.”

The psychologist said while humanity has moved on from Covid-19 lockdowns, depression caused by the pandemic is manifesting as a psychological aftereffect.

People shop for luxury fashion items at a department store in Seoul in April last year. [YONHAP]

Social media is also blamed for aggravating the sense of deprivation among young people already exposed to social class differences and Covid-19 isolation.

“In the past, people couldn’t watch how other people lived every moment,” said Kwak Keum-joo, a psychology professor at SNU. “Today, we can constantly watch the lavish lifestyle of celebrities and rich people.”

“People in their 20s and 30s endlessly compare themselves with other people who are living better than they do on social media,” Kwak said.

Lee Eun-jin, 32, said she recently deleted all social media apps from her smartphone.

“When I checked how many hours I spent on apps, I learned that I had been on Instagram 5 hours a day,” Lee said. “I felt pathetic of being jealous of friends who post pictures and videos of traveling abroad or friends who live in nice apartments.”

“I decided to quit all social media,” Lee said.

The SNU psychiatrist Kwon, however, said better accessibility to psychiatrists and psychiatric treatment — once stigmatized in the past — has also boosted the number of young people diagnosed with depression.

“In the past, people were hesitant to visit a psychiatrist for fear of others finding out about it,” Kwon said. “Today it seems there are more younger people seeking help from hospitals if they sense depression.”

“It is a positive change that more young people are recognizing depression and willing to seek appropriate treatment,” Kwon said.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Korea ranked 31st out of 41 member states in the social support index for young people aged between 15 and 29.

The index indicates the degree to which people feel they can rely on friends and relatives when facing difficulties. The OECD collected the data in 2022.

Some experts suggest that individually, people need to improve their recovery resilience and, as a society, create a safety net that includes affordable housing policies and pension reforms that could ease worries over economic uncertainties.

The SNU psychology professor, Kwak, said that social media companies should create guidelines to prevent their platforms from triggering feelings of deprivation in users.

“They should have guidelines against posts that are excessive or false,” Kwak said.

BY WON DONG-WOOK, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]