NeuroStar® TMS Therapy
FDA-cleared, non-medication depression treatment
Exploring the Relationship between Chronic Illness and Depression
Medically reviewed on 11/16/2020 by
Dr. Geoffrey Grammer
Chief Medical Officer
If you've been negotiating a chronic illness day after day, you're bound to feel run down at times. Long-lasting illnesses such as diabetes or Parkinson's disease can cause incessant pain and stress. They can also make it difficult or sometimes impossible to function at your best at work and in your relationships. But those illnesses can also trigger another condition: depression. Chronic illness and depression often go hand in hand, each making the other worse. So, managing your chronic illness and taking care of your mental health is ultimately a double-duty job. According to the Cleveland Clinic, one-third of people with chronic illnesses also experience depression. There's a medical term for this: "comorbidity," the simultaneous presence of two or more distinct conditions in a patient. The symptoms of one condition can often overlap with and mask another. This can make it difficult for people with depression (and sometimes even their doctors) to recognize that two separate ailments—each requiring its own treatment—are occurring at the same time. The list of illnesses that persist or can't be fully cured is unfortunately long. Along with physical pains, chronic conditions like cancer, AIDS/HIV, and multiple sclerosis can bring emotional ones, too, from fear to frustration and loneliness. It's no wonder that the continuous stress of a chronic illness can affect your mental health. Still, it's important to recognize that you are not alone, and that there is hope.
The Connection between Chronic Illness and Depression
A problem can arise when patients and physicians fail to recognize that certain normal and expected feelings have reached the threshold of triggering medical depression. Treating the chronic illness can take so much attention and energy that it's easy to overlook another condition in the midst. To complicate matters, many of the telltale symptoms of depression are the same ones that people with chronic illnesses experience: fatigue, insomnia, stomach troubles, backaches and headaches, weight gain or loss, sexual dysfunction, problems concentrating, and feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, or hopelessness. It can be hard to distinguish whether these symptoms are caused by chronic illness or by depression. The cause could, in fact, be both. Many of the physical symptoms brought about by depression are associated with inflammation in the body, potentially leading to aches and pains, a weakened immune system, and increased stress. All of these can worsen chronic illness, which in turn can heighten depression. Research has shown, for example, that depression is associated with poorer prognoses and faster development of chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and diabetes. Chronic illness and depression have a cyclical, mutually harmful relationship, each one exacerbating the other.
Seeking Treatment for Depression Can Lighten the
Depression is associated with changes in the brain chemicals that regulate signaling and moods. For some people, it can be effectively treated with talk therapy and/or antidepressants and other medications. Yet roughly one in three people don't find relief even after trying two medications. And if you have a chronic condition that already requires medications, you simply may not want to add another pill for depression. You might also be concerned about potential drug interactions between a chronic illness medication and depression medications—or that your chronic illness medication may actually be increasing your risk for or contributing to depression. Especially if you fall into these categories, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a depression treatment worth considering. TMS is a non-invasive, drug-free, outpatient treatment in which you sit in a comfortable chair, awake and alert, while a device near your scalp delivers gentle magnetic pulses. These pulses, similar to those in an MRI scan, stimulate changes in brain chemical signaling that can alleviate symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder. To learn more about whether TMS therapy is right for you, schedule a no-cost consultation. If you have a chronic illness, keep in mind that you also have a higher risk of depression. While it can be tough to do, it's important to take care of both your chronic illness and your mental health. You deserve to feel your best, and treatment can help get you there.
Let's see if we might be a good fit
Take our short quiz to see if TMS therapy or nasal esketamine could be right for you
Share this post
We're Better Together
Subscribe for mental health, self-care, and TMS therapy and nasal esketamine updates for those affected by treatment-resistant depression or OCD.
Contact Us
By providing your email address, you are consenting to receive blog updates from Greenbrook TMS Inc. You may unsubscribe from these alerts at any time by following the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of email alerts. At Greenbrook TMS Inc. we take the privacy and security of your personal information seriously. To learn more about how we protect your personal information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
You might also like
Kelly’s Journey as a Senior Behavioral Health Technician at Greenbrook Mental Wellness Centers
By: Mitchell Whigham, PA-C Physician Assistant, Greenbrook Mental Wellness Centers
By: Mitchell Whigham, PA-C Physician Assistant, Greenbrook Mental Wellness Centers
By: Joe Morales Manager of Regional Operations, Greenbrook Mental Wellness Centers
