Depression and fatigue reinforce each other in a vicious cycle, according to European researchers.
In a yearlong study of 3,200 patients, chances of experiencing fatigue for depressed patients went up four times, while the chances of depression more than doubled for fatigued patients, says physician and public health expert.
The study appears in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Although doctors have long been aware of the link between depression and unexplainable fatigue, no one is certain which comes first.
To find the answer, expert looked at patient data from 14 countries as part of a World Health Organization study on psychological problems in general health care.
Fatigue and psychiatric disorder are not the same. It is evident from the literature that fatigue and depression have different risk factors. These two conditions could overlap. Fatigued persons might feel psychologically distressed, while decreased energy is a symptom of depression.
Levels of physical activity could determine the correlation of fatigue and depression. Physical activity is known to have a protective effect on depression. It has also been suggested that physical deconditioning might be an important factor in the development of unexplained fatigue.
Since treatment for both chronic fatigue and depression includes exercise, future research might look as to whether physical activity could explain the dynamics of the two conditions.
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