Why having a chronic disease increases your risk of depression — and what you can do to feel better

Getting diagnosed with a chronic disease — and learning to live with long-term illnesses — is hard enough. That’s why chronic disease is often accompanied by a range of emotions including anger, fear, and sadness. But, if you can’t shake constant feelings of moodiness, you may also have depression.

Depression — or feeling consistently sad and less interested in activities you used to enjoy — is the second most common mental health disorder in the United States. Getting a diagnosis, and the help you need, will not only help you feel better. It will also help you better manage your chronic illness on a day-to-day basis.

Recognize the signs of depression

Talk with your doctor if you’re feeling moodier than usual. You can also talk to an in-home health care provider about your symptoms. (To schedule a no-cost appointment conducted in the comfort of your own home, call 877-302-3672877-302-3672  or schedule online.)

These are the signs of depression to look for:

• Sadness
• Irritability
• Anxiousness
• Feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, guilt, or worthlessness
• Not getting pleasure from hobbies or activities you usually enjoy
• Fatigue and feelings of chronic low energy
• Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
• Sleeping too much or not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep
• Eating too much or not wanting to eat

If you’re having thoughts of death or suicide, text or call 988 to get immediate help.

Recommended reading: Are you feeling sad — or are you depressed?

An even healthier you starts here

Your no-cost in-home health visit helps you stay a step ahead of diabetes, kidney problems and more.

Schedule now

Schedule now

Why are chronic diseases and depression linked?

Having both depression and chronic disease is common. Researchers believe that there’s a connection — and that chronic inflammation may be the link.

What is inflammation? It's the body’s normal immune response to injury or infection. Inflammation triggers redness, swelling, and pain to recruit healing cells and substances to the area that’s injured or infected. Fevers are also a natural inflammatory response to kill off a virus or bacteria. This is called acute inflammation because it stops when the injury or infection is cleared.

Chronic inflammation, however, is inflammation that never stops. Like a train that has lost its brakes, chronic inflammation keeps going in the body, causing damage to cells, tissues, and organs along the way.

Recommended reading: 9 best foods to fight inflammation

Chronic diseases linked to depression

Chronic inflammation has been implicated in all chronic diseases today. These five diseases in particular have been linked to depression.

Arthritis

Approximately 20% of people with arthritis and arthritis-related conditions have depression. This category also includes osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis.

Those with the most severe pain are at higher risk. That’s because the stress of pain can alter levels of feel-good brain chemicals like serotonin in ways that can trigger mood changes.

Depression can also lower your pain threshold, making the pain that accompanies chronic conditions like arthritis feel even worse, according to the Arthritis Foundation. As a result, people with arthritis and depression have more trouble with day-to-day activities and with taking care of themselves.

Cancer  

Nearly 33% of people with cancer experience depression and anxiety. The chronic inflammation that accompanies cancer plays a role in depressive thoughts. 

What also contributes: the stress, grief, pain, fatigue, fear, and other emotions — including feeling like your life is no longer in your control. 

Lung conditions

Being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, doubles your risk of depression. Having asthma also raises your chances of developing the mood disorder. And the more severe your breathing problems, the higher your risk.

Not getting enough oxygen into the lungs can also trigger fatigue — as can depression. This combination can become debilitating, interfering with day-to-day activities and relationships with family, friends, and coworkers.

Heart disease

Up to 40% of people with heart disease also have depression or anxiety.

Living with depression can make heart disease worse — and may even increase your risk of heart disease-related death. Why? Experts say that depression can make following a healthy lifestyle, such as taking medications prescribed by your doctor and not smoking, more difficult.

Depression may also worsen heart disease by boosting levels of stress hormones, increasing chronic inflammation in the body.

Diabetes

People with diabetes are 2 to 3 times more likely to experience depression than those without it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The stress involved in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels every day can contribute, according to the American Diabetes Association. What can also contribute: the constant stress that comes from worries about developing diabetes complications like vision problems and kidney damage.

What’s more, high or low blood sugar levels can often look and feel like depression. They can make you feel anxious or tired during the day and interfere with a good night’s sleep. And not getting enough sleep can also make symptoms of depression worse.

How to get the help you need 

These four strategies are essential to getting help — and feeling happier and more engaged in life again.  

1. Talk to your health care provider 

You can talk to your primary care doctor about how you’re feeling. Or you can schedule an in-home visit with a health care professional. These private sessions — done in the comfort of your own home — may be an easier way to bring up how you’re feeling. In-home clinicians can also share local support resources that may be able to help. (To book your no-cost in-home visit, click here.)

2. Understand your treatment options

Your health care provider may recommend antidepressants. They may also recommend therapy — either talk therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of therapy that helps change unhelpful thought patterns. Both have been shown to help reduce feelings of depression.

3. Do your best to make healthy choices every day

The same foods that help your physical health are also good for your mental wellbeing. That means a healthy, balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and whole foods may help keep your mood in check. What won't help: deep fried foods and packaged sweets.

Getting regular exercise can help too as can learning stress-reducing techniques like deep breathing. Mindful movement like tai chi, yoga, and walking can also help, as can meditation.

What’s also important to know: drinking alcohol may make depressive feelings worse. That's because alcohol lowers the number of feel-good chemicals like dopamine in the brain. These chemicals are critical to feeling happy and hopeful.

4. Reach out for support

Talking with, and spending time with, family and friends can be beneficial by reducing stress. What can also help: joining support groups for people who have been diagnosed with the same condition. These groups can provide a long-lasting network of like-minded people to rely upon. 

Between therapy sessions, antidepressants, and just being able to talk with someone about how you’re feeling, you can get the help you need to start feeling better. Getting a handle on your depression may even motivate you to become more involved in your disease management, which can improve your overall prognosis.

Additional sources: 
Depression: National Institute of Mental Health 
Mental health by the numbers: National Alliance on Mental Illness  
Chronic illness and mental health: National Institute of Mental Health 
How inflammation, stress, and other factors can lead to depression: American Psychological Association 
Inflammation in obesity, diabetes, and related disorders: Immunity 
Arthritis and mental health: Arthritis Foundation 
Anxiety/depression among cancer patients during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Psycho-Oncology 
Do COPD and major depression share genetic risk factors? Human Molecular Genetics 
Emotions, stress, and depression: Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America 
Heart disease and mental health disorders: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  
Diabetes and mental health: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
That salad … may help stave off depression American Psychological Association 
Alcohol use disorder: Biomedicines