Depression earns psychologists and drug makers around 50m euros per year

The Romanian antidepressants market rose 21.3% in the first six months of 2010, by over 1.4 million units against the similar period of 2009.
"The incidence of depression and of anxiety disorders has risen significantly in the last year and a half. (...) From my personal experience and from discussions with fellow doctors, there are managers who have resorted to psychological help, being strictly affected by the crisis," says a Bucharest psychotherapist.
In Romania there are 50,000 doctors, a few thousand of whom have specialised in psychotherapy and psychiatry.
A psychotherapist earns less than 1,000 euros on average, but the best-known can earn a maximum 1,500-2,000 euros. As a result, an average 2,500 doctors, as estimated by ZF, earn around 2.5 million euros per month, i.e. around 30 million euros per year. Fees for a 50-minute session range from 60 to 200 RON.
If one adds psychologists' around 30 million-euro annual incomes, as estimated by ZF, to the almost 20 million-euro antidepressants market, it results that mental disorders fetch around 50 million euros in revenues.