The increase in risk is considerable, scientists say

Mar 30, 2012 22:21 GMT  ·  By
Living alone makes both men and women 80 percent more likely to suffer from depression
   Living alone makes both men and women 80 percent more likely to suffer from depression

The results of a new scientific study confirms what people have known for a long time, namely that spending most of your days alone leads to depression. The research puts some figures on this trend, showing that the risk of depression is 80 percent higher in people living by themselves.

This study sought to make a comparison between those who live alone and people who shared the house with either family or roommates. Details of the work were published in the latest issue of the open-access journal BMC Public Health, which is edited by BioMed Central.

What the Finnish team discovered was that a significant difference in the reasons for developing depression while alone exists between men and women. A third of females in the study were influenced by external factors as well, such as low income and lack of education.

A poor job climate, lack of support from superiors or colleagues at the workplace or in their private lives, and binge drinking are all factors that contribute to elevating men's risk of depression.

One of the things scientists behind this study were interested in was determining the effects that living alone has on working-age men and women. Previous investigations have already established that the habit is very likely to make the elderly and single parents more likely to get depressed.

Using data from the National Prescription Register of Finland, the scientists tracked more than 3,500 individuals for about 7 years. Their analysis included a number of psychosocial, sociodemographic and health risk factors, which the experts took into account when elaborating their conclusions.

Other risk factors that were considered included smoking, heavy drinking, low physical activity, antidepressant use and so on. “Our study shows that people living alone have an increased risk of developing depression,” says Dr. Laura Pulkki-Råback.

The expert, who holds an appointment as a psychologist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, was the leader of the research, PsychCentral reports. “Overall there was no difference in the increased risk of depression by living alone for either men or women,” she explains.

“Poor housing conditions, especially for women, and a lack of social support, particularly for men, were the main contributory factors to this increased risk,” the team leader goes on to say.

The situation may in fact be worse than the team described, because people who suffered from major depression were the most likely not to complete the follow-up studies, not report their problems or progress and so on. “We also were not able to judge how common untreated depression was,” Pulkki-Råback concludes.