Category: Depression

Neuroticism and depression are linked but a study finds beneficial effects of two other personality traits together.

Being extraverted and conscientious helps to reduce the risk of depression in neurotic people, new research finds.

People who are highly neurotic typically look at the world in a negative way.

They also find it hard to deal with stress and can experience a lot of negative emotions.

However, it seems being social and organised helps to ameliorate the effect.

Dr Kristin Naragon-Gainey, the study’s first author, explained:

“If someone has high levels of extraversion they might be very good at gathering social support or increasing their positive affectivity through social means.

Similarly, conscientiousness has a lot to do with striving toward goals and putting plans in action, which can combat the withdrawal and avoidance that can go along with neuroticism.”

Typically, in the past psychologists have focused on how individual aspects of personality affect depression risk.

Dr Naragon-Gainey explained that the key to this new study was looking beyond one single personality trait, like neuroticism:

“We know individually how these traits relate to symptoms, but now we are beginning to understand how the traits might impact one another.

We have to consider the whole person in order to understand the likelihood of developing negative symptoms down the road.”

Neuroticism and depression study

For the study, 463 people who had had psychiatric treatment in the last year were interviewed and surveyed.

Many were had both high levels of neuroticism and depression.

Statistical analysis showed that high conscientiousness and high extraversion together had a protective effect on people who were highly neurotic.

Dr Naragon-Gainey said:

“I think there’s a tendency in treatment and clinical psychology to concentrate on the problems and the negatives.

If you utilize the pre-existing strengths that clients bring with them, it can positively affect treatment and the level of symptoms going forward, as well as reinforcing what the person is already doing well.”

The study was published in the Journal of Research in Personality (Naragon-Gainey & Simms, 2018).

Eating fast food is linked to a huge increase in depression risk.

Depression is linked to eating fast food, like hamburgers and pizzas as well as commercially produced cakes, research finds.

People who eat fast food — when compared to those that eat none — have a 51% higher depression risk, the scientists found.

More fast food = higher depression risk

There is also a so-called ‘dose-response effect’ for fast food.

Dr Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, the lead author of the study, explained:

“…the more fast food you consume, the greater the risk of depression.”

The research showed that those eating the most fast food and commercial baked food were more likely to be:

• less active,
• single,
• smokers,
• working over 45 hours per week.

Fairy cakes, doughnuts and croissants also showed a strong link to depression, said Dr Sánchez-Villegas:

“Even eating small quantities is linked to a significantly higher chance of developing depression.”

Fast food and depression study

The study involved 8,964 people who were followed for an average of 6 months.

Of these, 493 started taking antidepressants during the study or were diagnosed with depression.

The results are in line with a previous study which found that eating fast food was linked to a 42% increase in depression risk.

Dr Sánchez-Villegas said:

“…although more studies are necessary, the intake of this type of food should be controlled because of its implications on both health (obesity, cardiovascular diseases) and mental well-being.”

Diets that prevent depression

Certain nutrients are thought to have a preventative effect on depression.

These include B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and olive oil.

The Mediterranean diet has also been repeatedly linked to lower levels of depression.

It is more difficult to get these vital nutrients from fast food.

The study was published in the journal Public Health Nutrition (Sánchez-Villegas et al., 2012).

Thirty years worth of research reveals that 50 percent of people benefit from sleep deprivation treatment for depression.

Sleep deprivation treatment can rapidly reduce the symptoms of depression, 30 years of research suggests.

Around half of people with depression who are sleep deprived under controlled, inpatient conditions feel better quickly.

Many see improvements in just 24 hours, in comparison to the weeks it can take for antidepressants to start working.

Wake therapy

‘Wake therapy’, as it is sometimes called, involves staying awake all night and the next day.

Around 50% of people find their depression improves — until they sleep again.

There is evidence that staying awake for half the night, instead of the whole night, can be effective.

The problem, however, is that the therapy is not a long-term solution.

People typically feel depressed again after one full night’s sleep.

Sometimes taking a nap is enough for the depression to return.

However, the technique can help bridge the gap until antidepressants start working.

Wake therapy is sometimes referred to as a ‘response inducer’ or accelerator.

In other words, it is used when the patient needs a very quick release.

Sleep deprivation treatment for depression research

The conclusions come from a new review of 66 studies carried out over 36 years.

Dr Philip Gehrman, a study author, said:

“More than 30 years since the discovery of the antidepressant effects of sleep deprivation, we still do not have an effective grasp on precisely how effective the treatment is and how to achieve the best clinical results.

Our analysis precisely reports how effective sleep deprivation is and in which populations it should be administered.”

They found that around half of people who were depressed responded to sleep deprivation.

It didn’t matter whether or not they were taking medication, what age or gender they were, or even the method of sleep deprivation used.

Dr Elaine Boland, the study’s first author, said:

“These studies in our analysis show that sleep deprivation is effective for many populations.

Regardless of how the response was quantified, how the sleep deprivation was delivered, or the type of depression the subject was experiencing, we found a nearly equivalent response rate.”

The study was published in the The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (Boland et al., 2017).

Discover the alarming rise in depression linked to sedentary behaviour.

Being too sedentary is linked to an increased risk of depression, research confirms.

Young people who are too sedentary through adolescence are more likely to experience depression as adults.

Even relatively light activity, like walking around, is enough to reduce the risk of depression.

Each additional hour of light activity at 12-years-old reduces depression symptoms by 10 percent at 18-years-old, researchers found.

For adults, sedentary behaviour may be just as dangerous for mental health.

One study has found that just one hour of exercise a week reduces the chances of developing depression by a massive 44 percent.

Mr Aaron Kandola, the study’s first author, said:

“Our findings show that young people who are inactive for large proportions of the day throughout adolescence face a greater risk of depression by age 18.

We found that it’s not just more intense forms of activity that are good for our mental health, but any degree of physical activity that can reduce the time we spend sitting down is likely to be beneficial.”

The conclusions come from a study of 4,257 adolescents, whose movement was tracked for a few days while they were 12, 14 and 16.

They were also asked about the classic symptoms of depression, including loss of pleasure, low mood and problems with concentration.

The results revealed that sedentary behaviour was linked to depression.

Unfortunately, young people became considerably less active as they were tracked through adolescence.

This is a long-term trend, said Mr Kandola:

“Worryingly, the amount of time that young people spend inactive has been steadily rising for years, but there has been a surprising lack of high quality research into how this could affect mental health.

The number of young people with depression also appears to be growing and our study suggests that these two trends may be linked.”

Dr Joseph Hayes, study co-author, said:

“A lot of initiatives promote exercise in young people, but our findings suggest that light activity should be given more attention as well.

Light activity could be particularly useful because it doesn’t require much effort and it’s easy to fit into the daily routines of most young people.

Schools could integrate light activity into their pupils’ days, such as with standing or active lessons.

Small changes to our environments could make it easier for all of us to be a little bit less sedentary.”

The study was published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry (Kandola et al., 2020).