A summary of the results of over 100 studies on the connection between vitamin D and depression.
Two-thirds of Americans have this condition.
Two-thirds of Americans have this condition.
Being overweight causes depression, particularly in women.
In addition, men who are very thin — but not thin women — are also more prone to depression.
While depression has been linked to obesity, scientists have debated whether it is a result of the diseases linked to obesity, such as diabetes.
This genetic study suggests that depression is directly linked to obesity, whether or not people have other health issues.
Professor Elina Hyppönen, who led the study, said:
“We separated the psychological component of obesity from the impact of obesity-related health problems using genes associated with higher body mass index (BMI), but with lower risk of diseases like diabetes.
These genes were just as strongly associated with depression as those genes associated with higher BMI and diabetes.
This suggests that being overweight causes depression both with and without related health issues — particularly in women”
The results come from over 48,000 people with depression who were compared to a group of 290,000 people who had provided medical and genetic data.
Dealing with the psychological consequences of being overweight is linked to depression, the scientists found.
Professor Hyppönen said:
“The current global obesity epidemic is very concerning.
Alongside depression, the two are estimated to cost the global community trillions of dollars each year.
Our research shows that being overweight doesn’t just increase the risks of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease; it can also lead to depression.”
Three-quarters of American men and around two-thirds of American women are overweight or obese.
Almost one-third of American children are overweight or obese.
The study was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology (Tyrrell et al., 2018).
Learn the powerful, non-medication strategies that increase the chances of beating severe depression.
Spotting when people try to avoid these sensations is critical to preventing depression relapse.
Spotting when people try to avoid these sensations is critical to preventing depression relapse.
People who have recovered from depression but try to block out emotions — including sadness and anxiety — are more likely to become depressed again.Being open to both positive and negative emotions is critical to mental well-being.One reason is that emotions provide important information: they exist for a reason.Emotions help to inform our thoughts and allow us to understand our experience.Dr Norman Farb, the study’s first author, said:“We don’t like feeling bad things, (but) we don’t really think about the implications of balancing our short-term relief with our long-term health.Our research explains why working to keep feeling is so important.It lays the groundwork for seeing that emotional stress actually robs us of sensation—and to undo stress, one must counter this inhibitory effect.”
“What actually determined their depression levels was how much that sadness was accompanied by a sensory shutdown.”
“Our thoughts are there to nail things down so you can hold onto them over time, and that’s fine as long as they keep getting updated—but the thing that updates it is new sensations.”In other words, much as we might like to, we cannot live healthily without emotions like sadness and anxiety.Minor negative events can lead to depression relapse for those suppressing their emotions, said Dr Farb:
“This negative mood gets tied up with thoughts about themselves and can be easily perpetuated over time, and the person can feel worse.If the person suppresses these bodily sensations, their thoughts will compound into more and more depressive reactions.”Spotting those who are trying to avoid sensations early is critical, said Dr Farb:
“We don’t have to wait until the person starts to really spiral, where it takes a lot of resources and time and effort to pull them out.You can start to notice if the person is starting to fit the profile of someone who’s getting really sensory-avoidant.We can address it then, before the person stops showing up to work or taking care of their kids.”
Treatment for these depression symptoms may reduce dementia risk.
Unfortunately, many people do little to help those with depression.
Unfortunately, many people do little to help those with depression.
Many people are reluctant to reach out and help the depressed.
The study of Facebook examined how friends reacted to posts about depression.
The results revealed that friends were unlikely to recommend getting help, although they provided some minimal support by liking the post or sending motivation messages.
In fact, none of the 33 people participating in the study, many of whom were depressed, were told to get professional help by friends.
Dr Scottye Cash, the study’s first author, said:
“It makes me concerned that none of the Facebook friends of students in this study were proactive in helping their friend get help.
We need to figure out why.”
The study focused on 33 students who had reached out on Facebook for help when depressed.
Half of the people in the study were moderately or severely depressed and one-third were experiencing suicidal thoughts.
Dr Cash said:
“There’s no doubt that many of the students in our study needed mental health help.”
Depressed students typically said they had had ‘the worst day’ or described feeling very alone.
Some used song lyrics or emojis to convey their emotions.
However, they did not generally use the word ‘depression’, Dr Cash said:
“They didn’t use words like ‘depressed’ in their Facebook posts
It may be because of the stigma around mental illness.
Or maybe they didn’t know that their symptoms indicated that they were depressed.”
Some friends generally reacted in a supportive way, while others asked what was wrong.
Dr Cash is sympathetic with friends who did not pick up the signals:
“For the friends reading these posts, they often have to read between the lines since few people came right out and said they were depressed.
Many people used quotes and song lyrics to talk about how they’re feeling, so their friends really had to decode what they were saying.”
Recognising the signs of depression is difficult for people, said Dr Cash:
“Both Facebook and colleges and universities could do more to give these students information about resources, mental health support and how to recognize the signs of depression and anxiety.
We need to increase mental health literacy and decrease mental health stigma.”
The study was published in the JMIR Research Protocols (Cash et al., 2019).
Middle-aged adults benefit most from this lifestyle tweak.
Increased intake of this vitamin is particularly important for reducing depression risk.
Most people in the study improved more from this diet than is usual for even counselling and medication.
The type of people who are more sensitive to negative emotions.
The type of people who are more sensitive to negative emotions.
People who are more open to experience are at higher risk of depression.
People who are open to experience are more likely to be imaginative, sensitive to their feelings, intellectually curious and seekers of variety.
In particular, people who are into art and in touch with their emotions are more likely to experience depression.
It may be because artistic people are more sensitive.
The conclusion comes from a study of 143 people who were given tests of personality, focusing on the personality trait of openness to experience:
“Open individuals exhibit an increased awareness of, and receptiveness to, their feelings, thoughts, and impulses, as well as a need for variety, or a recurrent need to enlarge and examine experience.”
Some people in the study had never been depressed, some were depressed in the past and the remainder were currently experiencing depression.
The authors explained the results:
“Depressed participants (both current and past) scored significantly higher than nondepressed participants on the broad factor of Openness, as well as on both Openness to Aesthetics and Openness to Feelings.”
Sensitivity to the arts is probably linked to sensitivity to negative emotions, the authors write:
“It seems more likely that individuals who are attuned to beauty and the arts might be more sensitive, in general, and might therefore be more sensitive to, and affected by, negative events and stimuli.”
An appreciation of art and the experience of depression may be strongly linked:
“…the experience of depression may lead to an existential ”reexamination of the purpose of living,” and consequently bring the depressed individual “in touch with the mystery that lies at the heart of ‘tragic and timeless’ art”
Similarly, Ludwig (1994) suggested that the experience of depression (as well as other emotional problems) serves to fuel the writers “motivation for expression, . . . providing them with the basic ingredients for their art’.”
The study was published in the Journal of Personality Assessment (Wolfenstein & Trull, 1997).
Join the free PsyBlog mailing list. No spam, ever.
