The number of people living on their own has doubled, over the last three decades, to one in three in the UK and US. New research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Public Health shows that the risk of depression, measured by people taking antidepressants, is almost 80% higher for those living alone compared to people living in any kind of social or family group.
For women a third of this risk was attributable to sociodemographic factors, such as lack of education and low income. For men the biggest contributing factors included poor job climate, lack of support at the work place or in their private lives, and heavy drinking.
It is known that living alone can increase the risk of mental health problems for the elderly, and for single parents, but little is known about the effects of isolation on working-age people. Researchers in Finland followed 3500 working-aged men and women for seven years and compared their living arrangements with psychosocial, sociodemographic, and health risk factors, including smoking, heavy drinking and low physical activity, to antidepressant use. Information on antidepressant medication was taken from the National Prescription Register.
Dr Laura Pulkki-Råback, who conducted the research at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, explained, “Our study shows that people living alone have an increased risk of developing depression. Overall there was no difference in the increased risk of depression by living alone for either men or women. Poor housing conditions (especially for women) and a lack of social support (particularly for men) were the main contributory factors to this increased risk.”
She continued, “This kind of study usually underestimates risk because the people who are at the most risk tend to be the people who are least likely to complete the follow up. We also were not able to judge how common untreated depression was.”
How Depression Affects Emotions
With depression, the symptoms can last several weeks or several months. According to the “Teen Depression” guide, depression can destroy the very essence of teenagers’ personality, causing an overwhelming sense of sadness, despair or anger. During this difficult time, teens may feel that life has no meaning. If something bad happens, such as a family illness, death or divorce, the teenagers may feel guilt even though they had nothing to do with the situation. Crying spells are also possible with depressed teens, especially girls. Teenagers may also feel isolated or alone and that no one understands how they feel or what they are going through. Teenagers who are depressed have racing thoughts, wandering minds and find it hard to concentrate. Depressed teens also have a tendency to lose interest in school activities, friends and hobbies. The hormonal changes may intensify emotions and make teenagers more irritable or hostile. Thoughts of suicide are common in depression. Teenagers may talk frequently of suicide and/or death.
How Depression Affects Behavior
Depression also affects the behavior of teenagers. Sleeping more is one of the signs of depression. But individuals suffering from depression may still be tired and weak after sleeping many hours. Conversely, some depressed teens suffer from insomnia or the inability to stay asleep. Eating too much or not eating enough are both possible with depression. Some teens may overeat as a way to medicate themselves while others turn to drugs or alcohol. Teens may have little interest in school or homework and stop caring about the future. Some teens may have poor attendance records. With others, grades may drop considerably. Withdrawal from friends and family and a preference for being alone are also possible with depression. Running away from home or talking about leaving can also be signs of depression. In severe cases, teenagers may cut themselves or attempt self-mutilation. If teens fall into serious depression, they may try to kill themselves.
While this study clearly identifies some of the factors which increase the risk of depression for people who live alone, over half the increase in risk is still unexplained. The researchers suggest that this may be due to feelings of alienation from society, lack of trust, or difficulties arising from critical life events. All these factors need to be addressed in order to begin understanding and reducing the incidence of depression amongst working age people.
###
Notes to Editors
1. Living alone and antidepressant medication use: a prospective study in a working-age population
Laura Pulkki-Raback, Mika Kivimaki, Kirsi Ahola, Kaisla Joutsenniemi, Marko Elovainio, Helena Rossi, Sampsa Puttonen, Seppo Koskinen, Erkki Isometsa, Jouko Lonnqvist and Marianna Virtanen
BMC Public Health (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central’s open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.
2. BMC Public Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on the epidemiology of disease and the understanding of all aspects of public health. The journal has a special focus on the social determinants of health, the environmental, behavioral, and occupational correlates of health and disease, and the impact of health policies, practices and interventions on the community.
3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.
###
Dr. Hilary Glover
hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2370
BioMed Central