Study presented: Depression also weighs on the environment

Depression affects not only the people themselves, but also their partners, families and friends. This can lead to separations, as shown by an investigation.

Depression is severely depressing partners and families of those affected, according to a new survey. In almost half of the partnerships (45%), there are separations due to depression. This is the result of the second German barometer "Depression" presented by the German foundation Depressionshilfe and the German foundation Deutsche Bahn.

"Depression is often the cause and not the result of partnership conflicts," said Ulrich Hegerl, a psychiatrist at the University of Leipzig and chairman of the Depression Relief Foundation.

Feeling of rejection

Disease-related changes such as burnout, feeling of being a burden to others, conflict prevention and guilt led to social decline in 84% of respondents. Parents could easily misunderstand this behavior as a rejection, says Hegerl.

This entails the risk that partnerships separate. However, with successful treatment of depression, attachment often comes back.

Nearly one in five suffers from depression

According to information from the German agency Depressionshilfe, 5,000 adults aged 18 to 69 years were interviewed online in June and July for the depression barometer.

According to the calculations of the initiators, about 17% of German adults develop at least once in their life a persistent depressive disorder.

The causes may be not only genetic components, but also a metabolic disorder of the brain. According to an badysis by the Robert Koch Institute, depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in Germany.