Main information
- People with autoimmune diseases have almost twice as much risk of suffering from depression and anxiety disorders as the general population.
- The women concerned report more frequently psychological problems than men (32 percent against 21 percent).
- Researchers are calling for systematic mental health screening in these patients, especially in women.
A recent study, published in the journal BMJ Mental Healthreveals a clear link between autoimmune diseases and mental health disorders. The researchers analyzed data of more than 1.5 million British. It turns out that people with an autoimmune disease almost twice more often suffer from mental disorders such as depression and anxiety than those who do not suffer.
In people not with an autoimmune disease, the rate was 18 percent. For those living with this type of pathology, he went up to 29 percent. Women in particular reported mental disorders: 32 percent against 21 percent in men with a similar diagnosis.
A research that highlights the mechanisms
Researchers think that differences related to sex hormones, genetic factors and the presence of circulating antibodies could explain why women suffer more often from mental health problems when they are affected by autoimmune disease.
These results underline the close interdependence between physical health and mental health. Chronic inflammation, characteristic typical of autoimmune diseases, seems to play a central role in the appearance of depressive and anxious disorders.
A call for screening
“Psychiatric disorders are not simple problems’ above the neck. These are diseases that affect the whole body, ”explains Professor Daniel Smith, a psychiatrist at the University of Edinburgh and the main author of the study, in an interview with Euronews.
He insisted on the strong comorbidity between physical and mental diseases, and calls for a more global medical approach. The authors therefore request structural care of mental health for people with autoimmune diseases. Particular attention must be paid to women.
