Seek Help For Depression Now, Reduce Alzheimer's Risk Later

An increasing body of evidence links midlife depression to poor brain performance, and even increased risk of Alzheimer's, later in life.

Shirley Wang of the Wall Street Journal reports:

People who have experienced a major depression even once in the previous 10 years in late middle age are twice as likely as those who haven't to develop problems in concentration, memory or problem-solving ability after the age of 65, according to several large, epidemiological studies.

... "The literature strongly suggests that depression is a risk factor for dementia," says Meryl Butters, associate professor of geriatric psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Depression is toxic to your brain in a bigger way than we ever realized."

Researchers believe that depression by itself does not cause later cognitive problems. Rather, they hypothesize that it worsens some prexisting condition.

The entire article, which goes into much greater detail, is here.

Here at LifeTwo, we see this as further encouragement for people experiencing an intense midlife crisis to seek help. Many midlife crises are actually depressions, and it now looks like the consequences could be far-reaching and dangerous.

An article in Psychology Today says that many men mask depression with risk-taking behaviors that fit the midlife crisis stereotype, such as gambling, womanizing, or acts of daring.

See this article to learn the essentials of depression and this one for more about treatment.

However, anyone seeking professional help should be a proactive and informed patient. Recent research shows that the normal psychological reaction to a significant loss -- of a loved one, or even a job -- is misdiagnosed as depression in about 25% of cases.

There is generally good news for people at midlife. Although popular mythology would have it that menopause and empty nests cause middle aged women to become depressed, that's not the case. Younger women are more likely to suffer from depression; middle aged is often one of the happiest times of a woman's life. Because depression in underdiagnosed in men, it's not clear at what age it peaks; however, men, like women, generally get happier as they go through midlife.

The depression - dementia linkage makes proper diagnoses and treatment all the more important. If you think you're going through a midlife crisis, the consequences of not dealing with it are probably more serious than you think.