Being Surrounded by Gloomy People Makes You Depressed as Well

A new study conducted by researchers at Indiana's University of Notre Dame suggests that depression could be contagious and people could catch the depressive feelings from their friends or family some months down the line.

The researchers followed 103 random pairs of college roommates who were in their freshmen year and asked them to fill out a questionnaire in order to measure their cognitive vulnerability and depressive symptoms.

Depression - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.

The researchers repeated the process at three and six months and found that students who had cognitively vulnerable roommates also exhibited similar symptoms after three to six months. The study has been published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

“Our study demonstrates that cognitive vulnerability has the potential to wax and wane over time depending on the social context. This means that cognitive vulnerability should be thought of as plastic rather than immutable”, lead researcher Dr Gerald Haeffel said.

Source-Medindia

Depression - Symptom Evaluation
Depression occurs due to alterations in the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.

Depression � A Holistic Approach-Signs, Symptoms and Treatment
Depression is a common disorder and many worldwide suffer from depression. Early recognition of symptoms and signs of depression can help in taking a holistic approach to the management of depression.