Depression is on an alarming rise among Koreans in their 20s as economic pressures aggravate social isolation.

Patients with depression almost doubled from 49,848 in 2014 to 98,434 last year, according to the Health Insurance Review Assessment Service. From 2010 to 2014, the number of young adults seeking treatment for depression stayed below 50,000 a year, but then it started to surge.

Diagnoses of anxiety disorders also almost doubled from 37,100 in 2014 to 68,751 last year. Depression among 20-somethings has risen 29 percent, while anxiety disorders surged 20 percent. Sleeping disorders, which are more common in late middle age, soared from 27,219 to 32,596.

Experts attribute the surge in depression to high unemployment, social isolation due to inability to form relationships, and lack of independence.