Depression and Diabetes
Recent research has concluded that Depression may compound the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is  in people with such early warning signs of metabolic disease as obesity, high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels. This research was undertaken in Canada at McGill University, l’Université de Montréal, the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal and the University of Calgary.
There have been previous studies which have indicated a link between depression and diabetes, these new findings, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, show that when depression combines with metabolic risk factors the risk of developing diabetes increases significantly. The implication of such findings are clear.
Lead author Norbert Schmitz, who is an Associate Professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and a researcher at its affiliated Douglas Mental Health University Institute states that “Emerging evidence suggests that not depression, per se, but depression in combination with behavioral and metabolic risk factors increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular conditions,”
This four-and-a-half year study divided the 2,525 participants, aged between 40 and 69, into four groups: those with both depression and three or more metabolic risk factors; two groups, each with one of these conditions but not the other; and a reference group with neither condition.
With Type 2 Diabetes on the rise, could these finding indicate a similar rise in depression, psychotherapists need to take note of these findings and prepare their practices accordingly.
