MUMBAI: Not only do 56 million Indians -- or 4.5% of India's population -- suffer from depression at this moment, another 38 million Indians suffer from anxiety disorders. Thus, according to the latest World Health Organisation report on depression released on Thursday, almost 7.5% of Indians suffer from major or minor mental disorders that require expert intervention.The WHO report states that depressive disorders are characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness, and poor concentration. Anxiety disorders refer to a group of mental disorders characterized by feelings of anxiety and fear, including generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The WHO prevalence report underlines what Indian psychiatrists have been saying: the burden of depression cannot be ignored. In October 2016, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru released a mental health survey that said that the incidence of depression is roughly one in every 20 Indians or 5% of the population.Worldwide, the prevalence of depression increased by 18% from 2005 to 2015. At present, there are 322 million people with depression in the world. "Nearly half of these people live in the South-East Asia Region and Western Pacific Region , reflecting the relatively larger populations of those two regions (which include India and China, for example),'' said the WHO report.Although there are known, effective treatments for depression, fewer than half of those affected in the world (in many countries, fewer than 10%) receive such treatments, added the WHO report. Barriers to effective care include lack of resources, dearth of trained health-care providers, and social stigma associated with mental disorders. India, for instance, has less than 4,000 psychiatrists to treat its mentally ill people.The WHO report also said that inaccurate assessment was another barrier to effective care. "In countries of all income levels, people who are depressed are often not correctly diagnosed, and others who do not have the disorder are too often misdiagnosed and prescribed anti-depressants,'' it added.