One out of 8 South Korean adults said they have experienced depression at least once, but less than 10 percent of them received professional help, a survey released Sunday said.

The findings by the Centers for Disease Control were derived from a nationwide poll of 3,840 households throughout 2012, focusing on adults aged 19 or older.

According to the results, 12.9 percent said they had suffered from depression over the year prior to the survey. For the survey, depression was defined as grief and despair that disrupted normal daily lives for more than two weeks.

The percentage of women who suffered from depression was nearly two times higher than that for men, 16.5 percent versus 9.1 percent, the survey said. Older people were depressed more than those who were younger. People aged 70 or older had the highest rate at 17.9 percent, followed by 60-somethings at 15.1 percent and those in their 40s at 12.9 percent.

People from low-income families showed a higher depression rate at 15.3 percent than the rate of the high-income group at 10.9 percent.

The same survey said only 9.7 percent of the people who were battling depression received treatment, with women and the older age group more unreceptive to asking for help.

“Depression not only lowers the quality of life for individuals and creates problems in public health, but can lead to suicide that in 2011 cost the country 10.38 trillion won ($10.04 billion) in social and economic burden,” said Kim Yoon-ah, a researcher at CDC.

“The treatment rate is low because people are not aware that they can return to normal lives after getting help from experts and because there is social bias against getting psychiatric help.” (Yonhap)