Depression: Social closeness is the best protection

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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We now know some factors that stabilize the psyche and thus protect against depression. But what has the greatest effect?

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have identified the most important possible protective factors as part of a study. Among them, they identified one that particularly stands out: social solidarity. It is by far the most important factor that protects people from falling into depression. This also applies to people who, due to their emotional predisposition, are particularly susceptible to the darkening of the mind.

Evaluation of 106 possible protection factors

For this purpose, the researchers rely on a database of more than 100,000 participants who were recorded in the UK Biobank. They contained a field of 106 possible influences on the risk of depression, including social interaction, media consumption, sleep behavior, diet and physical activity, but also environmental factors such as a green environment or air pollution. They evaluated their influence with a method that was developed parallel to the scan for risk genes: the so-called exposure-wide association scan (ExWAS).

They then used a technique known in science as Mendelian randomization (MR). This made it possible to find out whether an established connection between depression and a certain factor is merely a coincidental correlation or whether there is actually a causal connection.

Important for mental health

“By far the most important factor was the frequency with which a person exchanged trustworthy information with others, as well as social factors such as meeting friends and family,” reports study leader Jordan Smoller. This illustrates the importance of social contacts and social cohesion for people's mental health. "These factors are more relevant than ever in an age of social distancing and separation from friends and family," said Smoller

Less television, no nap

Furthermore, reducing physically inactive activities such as watching or streaming television had a positive effect. It remains unclear whether media consumption directly promotes depression or whether it is the associated reduction in physical activity. A surprising finding: not taking a nap during the day seems to lower the risk of depression. More research is needed to find out how this factor could contribute.

State-of-the-art data processing provides new insights

"Depression takes a heavy toll on people, their families and society. But we still know very little about how to prevent it," says Smoller. "We have shown that it is now possible to answer these questions through a comprehensive, data-driven approach that would not have been available a few years ago."

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