Scientists have identified seven areas that help symptoms of depression—and they may be more powerful than genetics.
Research published in Nature Mental Health— by an international team of researchers, including the University of Cambridge and China's Fudan University—found that a healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of mental illness.
This lifestyle should include moderate alcohol consumption, a healthy diet, regular physical activity, healthy sleep, frequent social connection, no smoking and avoiding sedentary behavior.
"It is best to prevent yourself getting depressed or to seek help as soon as you realize that you are beginning to develop depression. Having a healthy lifestyle reduces the chance of getting depressed by 57 percent," Professor Barbara Sahakian, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, told Newsweek.
"Therefore, the best thing you can do for yourself is to take up a healthy lifestyle. If you have depression, a healthy lifestyle is still beneficial, but you should be receiving a psychological treatment, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or pharmacological therapy, such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs."
Scientists also analyzed exactly how these factors work to prevent risk of depression. They looked at these lifestyle factors, combined with genetics, brain structure and immune systems.
They turned to UK Biobank, a biomedical database and research resource containing anonymized data on these factors, to do this.
The researchers looked at data from 290,000 people. Of these, 13,000 had depression.
Over a nine-year period, the scientists identified seven healthy lifestyle patterns that were associated with lower risk of depression.
Closer inspection found that a good night's sleep made the most difference out of all of factors. When a person regularly had between seven and nine hours sleep a night, single depressive episodes and treatment-resistant depression reduced by 22 percent, the study reported.
Social connection had the most protection against recurring depression, reducing the risk by 18 percent.
Out of those assessed, the scientist assigned them to one of three groups: unfavorable, intermediate, and favorable lifestyle.
Those who had an "intermediate" lifestyle, meaning they adhered to most of these factors, had 41 percent less risk of developing depression compared to those in the "unfavorable" categories.
Those in the favorable lifestyle groups were 57 percent less likely to develop depression.
The scientists also took DNA into account during their research.
"Genetics and environmental factors, such as lifestyle factors, are both important in regard to risk for depression. However, our study suggested that lifestyle factors may play a greater role. Importantly, we can change and improve our behavior so that we have a healthy lifestyle. So, lifestyle is something that we can act upon to reduce the risk of depression," Sahakian said.
"Some of these lifestyle factors are things we have a degree of control over, so trying to find ways to improve them—making sure we have a good night's sleep and getting out to see friends, for example—could make a real difference to people's lives," Sahakian said in a press release.
They gave each individual assessed a genetic risk score, after taking a look at their DNA, to see how much genetics influenced depression risk. Those with a lower genetic risk were 25 percent less likely to develop depression when compared to a high genetic risk score.
Compared to lifestyle, this was a much smaller impact.
"We're used to thinking of a healthy lifestyle as being important to our physical health, but it's just as important for our mental health. It's good for our brain health and cognition, but also indirectly by promoting a healthier immune system and better metabolism," Dr. Christelle Langley, also from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, said in a press release.
The scientists found that these lifestyle factors also directly influenced the immune system.
For example, high stress levels can impact the body's ability to regulate blood sugar.
This potentially leads to a deterioration of immune system function. Previous studies also support this finding.
Subsequently, poor sleep can also hinder the body's ability to effectively deal with stress.
"We know that depression can start as early as in adolescence or young adulthood, so educating young people on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and its impact on mental health should begin in schools," Professor Jianfeng Feng, from Fudan University and Warwick University, said in a press release.
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Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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