Stress, Emotions and General Health

Depression

Major depressive disorders are complex illnesses, that considerable affect the life of sufferers causing the loss of the ability to work and to have close relationships. In severe cases the illness can become life-threatening. About one in every eight women can expect to develop clinical depression during their lifetime, while prevalences in males are only slightly less. Little is known about the etiology (causes) of depressive disorders despite decades of intensive research. In consequence, it is not really surprising that there are no causal therapies. Available treatments, though effective, are incomplete and there is no cure for a considerable proportion of patients.

Early Detection and Prevention

The most efficient approach to treating depression is prevention. This involves detection of early signs and symptoms among subjects with an elevated affect vulnerability so that early intervention is likely to prevent the disorder from developing. Additional benefits originate from the fact that major depressive disorders often occur in combination with other somatic conditions, such as hypertension, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, or asthma, among others. Within the scope of this project, we search for characteristic patterns of lifestyle behavior and health in the general population which significantly influence the risk for affect disturbances in a positive or negative way.

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