Can I be infected and become depressed too if I am with someone who is depressed?
Depression itself is not contagious; it is a common mental illness, not a contagious disease. The causes of its development may be related to the following factors.
1. Biochemical pathological factors. Modern medicine believes that the relative or absolute lack of concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain between neurosynapses can lead to depressed mood and slowed thinking in patients. For example, the reduction of norepinephrine, dopamine and acetylcholine are considered to be closely related to depression.
2. Endocrine factors. For example, hypothyroidism with depressed mood is very common in clinical practice. There is also the higher incidence of depression in women when they are in menopause. And the anxiety and irritability symptoms of postpartum depression patients may be related to the rapid withdrawal of progesterone after delivery.
3, blood circulation factors. Such as dyslipidemia and hypertension also have a relationship with the occurrence of depression. A study found that healthy women with low cholesterol had a 39% higher incidence of depression and anxiety than women with high cholesterol. Foreign studies have shown that the incidence of depression among patients with hypertension is 35.4%. In addition, certain drugs used to treat hypertension can also cause depression.
4, genetic factors. Depression has a certain genetic susceptibility. According to statistics, 35% of depressed patients have a family history of depression, the probability of the family members of depressed patients suffering from depression is 10-30 times higher than normal people, and the closer their blood relations, the higher the prevalence. But this is not caused by contagion.
5. Psychosocial factors. Depression caused by work stress seems to be more certain. Studies have found that people with high job stress are more than five times more likely to suffer from depression compared to those with low job stress. Also, changes in family structure can more definitely cause depression in older adults.
There are also people who have a depressive temperament in their own personality traits, are more withdrawn, or prone to emotional stress, and have poor psychological tolerance, and encounter high life stress or emotional frustration, and the presence of long-term repressed emotions can easily lead to depression.
Therefore, it should be noted that the above factors that may lead to depression do not work alone, they are closely related and interact with each other, and may jointly trigger the occurrence of depression at a certain point in time, but they are not contagious.
It is only that if one spends time with a depressed person for a long time, one may be influenced by it and develop negative or negativistic emotions.
This is normal, mainly because people with depression tend to exhibit significant and persistent low moods during the onset of the disorder. Although depression is not contagious, depressed moods tend to affect each other; for example, if one person in the family is in a bad mood, it may affect others.
If you are with someone who is depressed for a long time, the vicarious experience of depression increases and you may develop negative or negativity, but this is not the proceeds of contagion.
It is important to understand that there is a fundamental difference between depressed mood and depression. Depression is a disease, while depressed mood is just an unpleasant internal experience that can usually eliminate itself within 2 weeks through regulation, while depression is relatively less easy. Therefore, the resonance or resonance of emotions does not necessarily develop to the degree of depression and there is no need to worry excessively.
However, if you feel an abnormal change in mood after staying with a depressed person and it cannot be improved by self-adjustment in the short term, it is best to seek professional medical help promptly.
References.
[1]Li-Yue. What are the manifestations of depression and how to treat it [J]. Health Digest, 2010(2):1.
[2] Ding Guixia, Hu Daji, Li Youtian. Research progress on the pathogenesis of depression[J]. Chinese Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2007, 25(4):2.
[3] Tan Jiang. The things about depression[J]. Science of Health. 2022(8):95