14 DAY TRIAL // According to a recent report published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, people who have close relatives or siblings who have been diagnosed with chronic major depression are more than twice as likely to develop the same condition.
James B. Potash, M.D., senior author of the study and a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University, states that chronic major depression is a very severe and persistent mental disorder and this is why it runs in the family. "This chronic form of major depression can be uniquely disabling because of its persistence. Our finding that this aspect of the illness runs in families suggests the value of searching for contributory genes," Dr. Potash noted.
Findings of the study showed that parents or children of individuals diagnosed with chronic major depression before they turn 31 have a 2.52 fold high risk of suffering from the same disorder later in life. Also, first degree relatives of people who have been found to suffer from chronic major depression before they are 13 of age should be more worried, as they are 6.17 more likely to develop the same condition.
Most of the participants in the study stated that they have been depressed "as long as they can remember." Lead author of the study, Francis Mondimore, M.D., of the Department of Psychiatry at Hopkins also noted that about 30% of chronic major depression patients suffer from symptoms most or all of the time.
Common symptoms of chronic major depression involve depressed moods such as sadness, dejection, hopelessness, feelings of guilt or worthlessness and even suicidal thoughts. These also lead to fatigue, changes in appetite and body weight, difficulties in thinking and concentrating, poor mental abilities and a decline in the cognitive function.