Depression may take as many years off life as smoking.

Moral of the story: Mental illnesses are serious threats to long-term health

Source: AMA Morning Rounds 11/24/09

Depression may take as many years off life as smoking.

HealthDay (11/23, Dotinga) reported that, according to a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, "being depressed might take as many years off your life as smoking does." After "analyzing death records and a survey of more than 60,000 people," researchers at King's College London found that "during the four years after the survey, the death rate was higher among those who'd appeared to be depressed, based on the survey findings, than among the others," with the "increase...about as high as that among smokers." Notably, the investigators also found that "a combination of depression and anxiety appears to be better for longevity than just depression."