Hormonal
Depression and inflammation form a bidirectional, self-reinforcing loop where depression primes exaggerated inflammatory responses to stressors, and inflammation promotes depressive symptoms via sickness behaviors and neurobiological changes.
Managing stress, sleep, and diet is not just about physical health; it directly impacts your mental health by lowering inflammation. If you have depression, addressing lifestyle factors that drive inflammation (like obesity or poor sleep) may break the cycle of worsening mood.
Depression and inflammation fuel one another. Inflammation plays a key role in depression’s pathogenesis for a subset of depressed individuals; depression also primes larger cytokine responses to stressors and pathogens that do not appear to habituate.
Why this rating
Supported by extensive meta-analyses, prospective longitudinal studies, animal models, and clinical trials involving cytokine administration.
Source
Inflammation: Depression Fans the Flames and Feasts on the Heat
Janice K. Kiecolt‐Glaser et al. · American Journal of Psychiatry · 2015
DOI 10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15020152
More from this paper
- Anti-inflammatory interventions (including omega-3 fatty acids, exercise, and cytokine antagonists) significantly improve mood and reduce depressive symptoms, but only in individuals with pre-existing heightened inflammation (e.g., high CRP or IL-6 levels).Good
- Lifestyle factors including Mediterranean-style diet, caloric restriction/fasting, and exercise reduce systemic inflammation (CRP, IL-6) and can mitigate the risk of developing depression, particularly in those with existing depressive symptoms.Good
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