SJIF Impact Factor: 6.260| ISI I.F.Value:1.241| Journal DOI: 10.36713/epra2016 ISSN: 2455-7838(Online) EPRA International Journal of Research and Development (IJRD) Volume: 5 | Issue: 2 | February 2020 - Peer Reviewed Journal 2020 EPRA IJRD | Journal DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra2016 | www.eprajournals.com |291 | TACKLING MENTAL HEALTH IN SAUDI ARABIA IN THE LIGHT OF CONSIDERATION OF THE LIFE COURSE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ISSUES Anwar A. Sayed 1 1 Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra4056 ABSTRACT Mental health disorders have started to increasingly become a public concern with more resources and efforts are being put to promote awareness and fight stigmas associated with it. Depression represents one of the most common mental health disorders with a great economic and social burden both globally and in Saudi Arabia. This study focuses on addressing depression in Saudi Arabia. The epidemiology of depression in Saudi Arabia is described using Bellingham-Young basic principles model, describing the issue from the perspectives of who; when; where; what and why. The causes of depression among patients in Saudi Arabia is described in this study, mainly in relation to chronic diseases, age and gender. Next, several approaches are suggested to tackle depression among its patients in Saudi Arabia. These approaches are described according to Ritsatakis and Jarvisalo variation of the established Dahlgren and Whitehead stages model. Lastly, depression is discussed in the light of consideration of the life course epidemiological issues and how life events may affect the development of depression in adulthood. KEYWORDS: Depression – Life Course Issues - Mental Health – Tackling Approaches - Saudi Arabia 1. INTRODUCTION Mental health disorders have started to increasingly become a public concern with more resources and efforts are being put to promote awareness and fight stigmas associated with it (1). As mental health disorders encompass a wide range of disorders, depression will be used as a study example in this study. Depression is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorder in adults and has been an increasingly a major health burden which is not addressed properly in many societies. The impact of depression goes beyond being an economical burden as it encompasses detrimental suffering on both personal and interpersonal level, as well as its impact on societies (2). The World Health Organizations' (WHO) International Classification for Diseases and Related Disorders (ICD-10) requires the presence of at least four items for a duration of 2 weeks to meet the criteria for a depressive episode. These items include loss of appetite, loss of interest in activities, absence of emotional reactions, sleep disturbance, motor retardation, losing weight, loss of libido and decreased energy (3). Although depression could be diagnosed based on slightly different criteria like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition (DSM-IV-TR) (4), applying these two different criteria do not yield significantly different results and hence they could be used interchangeably (5). 2. EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DEPRESSION IN SAUDI ARABIA The epidemiology of depression will be discussed in its global prevalence and will be followed by its prevalence in Saudi Arabia (SA). To better address the issue, Bellingham-Young basic principles model (6) will be used to put it into perspective. In a cross-sectional study including 7970 elderly patients, 3110 patients reported depressive symptoms (39%) and around 669 patients had significant depression score (7). This study has addressed several factors that strongly correlated with the prevalence of depression.