Studies show that children with depression are six times more likely to die by the age of 31

Children diagnosed with depression According to one study, between the ages of 5 and 19, the chances of dying by the age of 31 are six times higher.

Researcher Sweden We followed 1.4 million people and tested whether there was an association between childhood or teenage depression and worsening health in adulthood.

They found that the risk of death from self-harm increased 14-fold. This can be expected to be associated with depression, People who suffered from mental illness at a young age were more likely to be diagnosed with dozens of serious illnesses.

These included type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, epilepsy, sleep disorders, liver disease and kidney disease.

Studies have shown that depression is one of the most common mental health problems and is more and more common among children and teens.

According to this study, led by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, about 2.8% of people aged 8 to 13 are in this state, and 5.6% of people aged 14 to 18 are in this state.

The researchers behind it said that investigating the link between mental health in childhood and physical health in adulthood is the largest study to date.

But they did not prove that childhood depression directly led to people developing the disease as they grew older, and, for example, did both have the same root cause, or the link I admitted that it may have worked the other way around.

A Swedish study found that depressed children and teenagers lived in poor health during adulthood (stock image).

Researchers have found that people diagnosed with depression in childhood or teenagers are “significantly” more likely to develop dozens of health problems.

An expert led by Dr. Sara Bergen of Karolinska wrote: “These findings highlight the hypothesis that the prevalence of depression in young people extends beyond mental and neurological disorders, increases the burden of illness, and poses quality of life and public health challenges. I am. “

They couldn’t prove that depression worsened adult health, but knowing its relevance would help doctors monitor patients.

The study, which lasted 31 years from 1982 to 2013, diagnosed depression in a total of 37,185 people during childhood or teenage years. By the end of the study, they were all 17 to 31 years old.

1% of people with depression died before the end of the study, compared to 0.4% of people in the non-depressive group.

Some people died from self-harm-this was 14.6 times more likely in the depression group-but people also developed other fatal illnesses. All causes of death were not outlined.

The researchers examined 69 different conditions to see how more common they were in the depressed group than in the healthy group.

They found the difference between men and women.

In the treatise, Dr. Bergen and her colleagues explain: ‘Gender differences were observed in many of the medical results examined.

In particular, women have a significantly higher relative and absolute risk of injury, a greater risk difference for genitourinary infections, and a moderate relative risk for gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and respiratory infections, especially compared to men. it was high. Cough; and some skin disorders.

Conversely, men had a relatively high relative risk of obesity, thyroid and other endocrine disorders, celiac disease, connective tissue disorders, dermatitis and eczema.

“Men and women with juvenile depression, among other things, showed an increased relative risk of nervous system disorders, type 2 diabetes, viral hepatitis, kidney disease, and liver disease.”

Researchers have shown that their treatise cannot prove that depression is causing other illnesses.

It only showed that both are likely to be in the same group of people – possible in either direction, one may have increased the risk of the other.

They added: “It is important for future studies to determine whether the observed increase in health problems is due to depression, sharing of genetic or environmental risk factors, or whether the association is due to an inverse causal relationship. is.”

The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, According to the American Medical Association.