New Study — Living with Multiple Illnesses Can Nearly Double Your Depression Risk

• The participants were drawn from the UK Biobank — This is a long-term health database that tracks biological and health information from hundreds of thousands of people. The researchers followed over 142,000 individuals for a decade to identify how diseases affect them mentally.

Using statistical clustering techniques, they grouped individuals according to their physical illness profiles and tracked how these clusters related to later diagnoses of depression.²

• Not all diseases affect mental health the same way — The researchers found that some disease combinations triggered a much higher risk of developing depression over time. In groups with the most physical disease, about one in 12 people developed depression within 10 years, compared to just one in 25 people with fewer or less severe conditions.

• Some combinations were more dangerous than others — According to the study, living with both diabetes and heart disease — conditions grouped under the term “cardiometabolic disorders” — causes your chances of receiving a future depression diagnosis to skyrocket.

• Those with chronic lung, liver, and bowel diseases were also far more vulnerable to depression — Conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) put people at a high risk of depression. There’s also a noticeable link between depression and liver and bowel diseases in both men and women.

• Here’s where it gets even more revealing — The highest-risk group didn’t share a single diagnosis. Instead, they had complex, overlapping conditions. No one disease stood out, yet the burden of multiple illnesses pushed their mental health over the edge.

• Women had an even harder time when it came to joint and bone problems — Women living with arthritis or related disorders have a higher risk of depression compared to a man with the same diagnosis. This difference didn’t appear as clearly in men, suggesting a sex-specific vulnerability that often goes unaddressed in traditional treatment approaches.

• This study solidifies the notion that there’s a solid link between your physical and emotional health — It shows that depression is not a random occurrence, but actually a part of a cascade that starts with physical dysfunction and ends with emotional collapse.

As the researchers noted, “multimorbidity” — the state of living with two or more chronic illnesses — continues to put pressure on today’s healthcare system. Hence, there is a need for integrated healthcare models that address both physical and mental wellness.³

• Biological factors are not the only possible cause — While the biological burden of illness plays a role, the researchers of the featured study say social and systemic factors, such as isolation, loss of independence, financial strain, and chronic fatigue, could also explain why physical multimorbidity leads to worse mental health outcomes.

• Depression doesn’t just result from chronic illness; it also leads to it — If you’re struggling with depression, you’re more likely to develop diseases. Depression makes it harder for you to eat well, stick to healthy habits, or get regular checkups. The fatigue, hopelessness, and brain fog associated with depression affect your ability to follow through on actions that would protect your physical health.

• The stress of living with a chronic illness triggers biochemical changes in the brain itself — For example, diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and stroke physically alter brain structures involved in mood regulation.⁵

And if you’re already on medications for your chronic disease, certain prescriptions might add to the problem by interfering with mood stability or neurotransmitter levels. For example, one study found that Parkinson’s disease patients who receive higher doses of dopaminergic agonists have worse depressive symptoms.

• Another layer to this is often missed — The brain’s chemical signaling system relies on energy. If your body is under constant attack from illness, your cellular energy production tanks. That drop affects neurotransmitters that help you feel calm, focused, and emotionally balanced. Over time, that biochemical imbalance fuels a cycle of low mood, negative thinking, and withdrawal from activities that once brought you joy.

• Depression accelerates disease development — Over a seven-year follow-up period, the researchers found that depressed individuals had at least one additional chronic illness at the start of the study compared to those without depression.

• Depression also speeds up disease occurrence — The researchers noted that rather than taking decades to develop, illnesses like osteoarthritis, hypertension and reflux disease showed up in depressed individuals years early. What’s more, certain conditions have a stronger link to depression. These include acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome — even so, these were far more common in those suffering from depression.

• Depression harms your heart — The link between negative emotions like depression and heartbreak has long been established, and there’s even a term that describes it — broken heart syndrome.

In this study, the researchers found that the likelihood of developing high blood pressure and heart disease increases when you’re depressed. They believe this happens because depression triggers prolonged stress responses, causing spikes in cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone. Over time, these repeated stress responses damage blood vessels, increase arterial stiffness, and raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

• It also contributes to a higher risk of hospitalization for severe physical illnesses — A separate study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that people with depression have a five times higher risk of hospitalization. Those with severe depression were significantly more likely to require hospital treatment for a wide range of chronic illnesses.⁸

• Depressed people were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for serious infections — The immune system is directly influenced by mental health, and chronic stress from depression weakens the body’s ability to fight off harmful bacteria. This increases the likelihood of developing life-threatening infections that require intensive hospital care, such as pneumonia or sepsis.

• Feed your cells with the energy they need — If your cells aren’t making enough energy, everything else starts falling apart, including your brain function. That’s why I always recommend increasing your intake of easy-to-digest carbohydrates like ripe fruit.

If your gut is severely damaged, sip on dextrose water. This is foundational because energy deficiency creates the stress chemistry that fuels depression. You need at least 200 to 250 grams of carbs per day if you’re an adult, more if you’re active. Don’t skimp. This isn’t optional — it’s how you repair from the inside out.

In addition, you must eliminate seed oils high in linoleic acid (LA), processed foods, and snacks like nuts and seeds that are rich in polyunsaturated fats (PUFs). These block mitochondrial function and create toxic byproducts that worsen fatigue and brain fog. Use saturated fats like grass fed butter, ghee, or tallow instead — they actually help your cells make energy.

• Optimize your circadian clock to reset brain chemistry — Depression thrives in chaos, especially circadian chaos. Spend time outside every morning for at least 15 minutes of natural sunlight within 30 minutes of waking. This sets your body clock and triggers brain chemicals that stabilize your mood and energy.

Turn off blue light at night and build a sleep routine that starts the same time each evening. If you’re stuck in a rut, small wins like waking at the same time or going for a walk after breakfast will give your brain the input it needs to shift gears.

• Get enough sun exposure — Sun exposure optimizes your vitamin D production, which is associated with better mental health. Read more about this in “Higher Vitamin D Levels Linked to Improved Mental Health.”

However, one caveat about sun exposure — make sure you’ve eliminated all LA from your diet before going out during peak sunlight hours, as the UV rays oxidize the LA in your skin, causing inflammation and DNA damage. Instead, limit sun exposure to the gentler morning or late afternoon hours for four to six months while eliminating these oils from your diet.

I also recommend getting pentadecanoic acid or C15:0 from full-fat dairy fat, as it selectively displaces the LA in your skin, protecting you from skin damage.

• Prioritize deep, restorative sleep — There’s a strong link between sleep disorders and depression. Poor sleep increases inflammation, weakens immunity, and worsens insulin resistance. To keep this from affecting you, aim for at least seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night.

Other strategies include eliminating blue light exposure in the evening, avoiding screens an hour before bed, sleeping in a completely dark room (use blackout drapes or wear an eye mask if needed), and keeping your bedroom cool (around 65 degrees F). Get more high-quality sleep tips here: “Top 33 Tips to Optimize Your Sleep Routine.”

• Reduce chronic stress — Finding ways to lower stress daily, not just when you’re feeling overwhelmed, is key to warding off chronic diseases and helping you recover. Try deep breathing exercises, meditation, or even spending time in nature to reset your nervous system. You can also try the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to help alleviate your stress.