The root of depression can be an often tricky, confusing and misunderstood subject. The symptoms for depression may seem obvious, but the reason why someone suffers from it can feel allusive. How is it, some people can experience horrific problems in their lives and remain virtually unscathed while others can barely roll out of bed under normal circumstances? To find an answer to this question researchers at Kings College in London studied the following three influences believed related to depression: Social, environmental and genetic disorders. At the conclusion was a fascinating discovery linking depression back to a chromosome that can be found in a genetic link amongst some depression sufferers: Chromosome 3p25-26.

The association of depression with a person’s genetics has been a hot topic amongst researchers many times in the past. The question, “Is depression a genetic disorder that I’m doomed to have one day?” has been a valid one. According to a team of researchers, the answer to that question may have finally risen to the surface at the conclusion of a recent study performed at Kings College London. What the group was able to conclude were the following statistics based upon the data studied:

The study performed by researchers from Kings College London points to a chromosome called “3p25-26”, thought to be the possible “link” between depression and genetic variations. This genetic link underscored the 40% risk factor for the association of depression amongst families, finally providing evidence that genetics link to depression. 

Over 800 families with two or more siblings suffering from depression were used as the focus group for the research performed. The result of that study pointed to several commonalities precipitating depression; grief, unemployment and divorce. The study revealed that each one had a significant relationship to the onset of depression amongst those analyzed. In a “rare occurrence” research teams in the US concluded the same findings and were published in the “American Journal of Psychiatry” supporting the same genetic variations found in the DNA chromosome. The significant “link” from both studies came from the altered state of the 3p25-26 chromosome in those participants.

Treatment and therapy

The goals of this research was to explain what is perhaps the culprit behind this condition, offering a treatment plan producing more effective results. Sometimes, depression has a stigmatized effect on those who suffer from it making it appear to be a flaw in our strength (when it is not) or something we should “snap out of” when we cannot. What is most relevant is never ignoring the symptoms of depression, thinking they’ll just go away. We all have days when we’re feeling down, but staying down is unnecessary when there is an answer medically explaining why you’re suffering.

Stay tuned for more on the symptoms of depression to be reviewed in upcoming blogs.