Category: Depression

Research on 2 million people around the world reveals the most depressed time of life.

People are most depressed in middle age, research on two million people from 80 nations finds.

In the US, the risk of depression peaks at around 40-years-old for men and around 50-years-old for women.

In the UK, the highest probability of being depressed is at age 44.

The causes of mid-life depression are hard to explain, as they happen to all kinds of people.

For example, it doesn’t seem to be related to marriage, divorce or having (or not having) children.

Professor Andrew Oswald, study co-author, explained:

“Some people suffer more than others but in our data the average effect is large.

It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children.

Nobody knows why we see this consistency.”

The researchers found a U-shaped curve between happiness and age.

In other words, people were happiest when they were young and old, but their happiness dropped in between.

Professor Oswald said:

“What causes this apparently U-shaped curve, and its similar shape in different parts of the developed and even often developing world, is unknown.

However, one possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations.

Another possibility is that cheerful people live systematically longer.

A third possibility is that a kind of comparison process is at work in which people have seen similar-aged peers die and value more their own remaining years.

Perhaps people somehow learn to count their blessings.”

Professor Oswald said that those living to 70-years-old and beyond could look forward to feeling as happy as a 20-year-old, on average:

“It looks from the data like something happens deep inside humans.

For the average person in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year.

Only in their 50s do most people emerge from the low period.

But encouragingly, by the time you are 70, if you are still physically fit then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20 year old.

Perhaps realizing that such feelings are completely normal in midlife might even help individuals survive this phase better.”

The study was published in the journal Social Science & Medicine (Blanchflower & Oswald, 2008).

Some people relapsed in just 3 days.

People who cut back on their exercise see increases in their depression symptoms in just 3 days, research finds.

While exercise is known to benefit depressive symptoms, this study highlights the dangers of relapsing into inactivity.

People in the study had been doing 30 minutes of exercise, three times a week for at least three months.

Levels of key biological markers also changed after exercise stopped.

Ms Julie Morgan, the lead author, said:

“Adequate physical activity and exercise are important for both physical and mental health.

Current public health guidelines recommend being active on most if not all days of the week.

At least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week is recommended to maintain health and prevent depression, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise for added health benefits.

An extensive body of clinical evidence shows that regular exercise can reduce and treat depression.

However, there is limited research into what happens with depressive symptoms when exercise is stopped.”

The research reviewed and collated the results from six separate studies.

Professor Bernhard Baune, study co-author, said:

“In some cases, ceasing this amount of exercise induced significant increases in depressive symptoms after just three days.

Other studies showed that people’s depressive symptoms increased after the first one or two weeks, which is still quite soon after stopping their exercise.”

The researchers did not see the usual changes in biological markers linked to depressive symptoms.

Professor Baune said:

“This suggests some kind of novel effect in these cases, although we should add some caution here, as the number of people included in the studies we examined was small.

Such findings would need to be replicated in additional trials.”

Professor Baune concluded:

“For now, it is important that people understand the potential impact on their mental well-being when they suddenly cease regular exercise.”

The study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders (Morgan et al., 2018).

The posture made people less focused on themselves, more enthusiastic and put them in a better mood.

Changing sitting posture helps to improve depression symptoms, research finds.

Sitting up straight in a chair was linked to more enthusiasm and less tiredness.

The study’s authors write:

“The upright group reported greater high arousal positive affect, lower fatigue, and spoke more words and fewer singular first-person pronouns in the speech task compared to the usual posture group.”

The importance of using fewer first-person pronouns (“I” and “me”) is that people who are depressed tend to focus on themselves more.

One sign of lower depression is that people focus less on themselves.

For the study, 61 people were asked to give a 5-minute speech while sitting.

Some were asked to sit up straight while doing this, others were given no instructions.

The benefits to mood of sitting up straight fit in with a number of other findings, the authors explain:

“… [an] upright posture can counteract fatigue in people with sleep deprivation…

Increased slumping has been associated with self-reported fatigue and reduced energy in work settings.

In addition, an intervention to improve posture in surgeons performing laparoscopic surgeries resulted in improved posture and reduced surgical fatigue.”

Embodied cognition

The finding is another in an area called ’embodied cognition’.

This is the idea that we think with our bodies as well as our minds.

This is not the first study to find that sitting up straight improves mood.

People sitting up straight rather than in a hunched position report a better mood, higher self-esteem and a host of other benefits.

Sitting up straight has even been shown to improve memory.

The study’s authors explain the results:

“The upright participants reported feeling more enthusiastic, excited, and strong, while the slumped participants reported feeling more fearful, hostile, nervous, quiet, still, passive, dull, sleepy, and sluggish.

The upright participants also reported higher self-esteem and reduced fear compared to slumped participants.”

The study was published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry (Wilkes et al., 2017).

The more people do this, the lower their depression risk.

Regular trips out are an easy way to protect against depression, research finds.

More visits to places like the cinema, museums or the theatre are linked to dramatic reductions in depression risk in later life.

Cultural activities may do more than help people recover from depression, they may help prevent it, the study suggests.

People who went to films, plays and exhibitions every few months had a 32% lower risk of depression.

Those who went every month or more had a 48% lower risk of depression.

Dr Daisy Fancourt, the study’s first author, said:

“Generally speaking, people know the benefits of eating their five-a-day and of exercise for their physical and mental health, but there is very little awareness that cultural activities also have similar benefits.

People engage with culture for the pure enjoyment of doing so, but we need to be raising awareness of their wider benefits too.”

The conclusions come from over 2,000 people over 50 who were tracked for 10 years.

Dr Fancourt said:

‘We were very pleasantly surprised by the results.

Notably we find the same relationship between cultural engagement and depression amongst those of high and low wealth and of different levels of education — the only thing that differs is the frequency of participation.

‘Cultural engagement is what we call a “perishable commodity.”

For it to have long-term benefits for mental health, we need to engage in activities regularly.

This is similar to exercise: going for a run on the first of January won’t still have benefits in October unless we keep going for runs.”

Dr Fancourt continued:

“Depression is a major issue affecting millions of people.

If we are starting to feel low or isolated then cultural engagement is something simple that we can do to proactively help with our own mental health, before it gets to the point where we need professional medical help.”

The study was published in The British Journal of Psychiatry (Fancourt et al., 2018).