Table of Contents
Impact on Daily Activities and Relationships
Effects of Parental Depression on Children. Depression in parents may increase the risk for childhood depression.
Effects on Marriage. People who suffer from psychiatric disorders tend to have higher divorce rates than healthy people. Spouses of partners with depression are themselves at higher risk for depression.
Effect on Work. Depression can adversely affect a person's work life. It significantly increases the risk for unemployment and lower income.
Substance Abuse
Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Many people with major depression also have an alcohol use disorder or drug abuse problems. Studies on the connections between alcohol dependence and depression have still not resolved whether one causes the other or if they both share some common biologic factor.
Smoking. Depression is a well-known risk factor for smoking, and many people with major depression are nicotine dependent. Nicotine may stimulate receptors in the brain that improve mood in some people with depression.
Review Date: 01/27/2011
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine,
Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M.,
Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
