The Mood and Health Study, 2018-2019

This study fits into the field of behavioural medicine which tries to better understand the mind-body connection. That is, why does what we think and feel affect our bodies in ways which can cause us to become unwell? Quantitative research has repeatedly shown that depression is associated with the onset and progression of multiple different physical illnesses. However, we are still trying to understand why this is the case. We propose that the experience of depression in the physically ill may partly explain this, however this has yet to be addressed in previous research. Qualitative methods involve asking participants about their experiences of living with disease. In this study we propose to ask persons with 4 different diagnoses (depression only, depression comorbid with: coronary heart disease, arthritis or type 2 diabetes) in order to look for similarities and differences in individual experiences. We are particularly interested to know whether the symptoms of depression present themselves differently across the different physical illness groups and the timeline and course of depressive symptoms in relation to an individual’s physical illness symptoms. Such questions are possible to answer using quantitative methods using sophisticated statistical techniques, however such approaches strip away the context of the diagnosis which might help researchers to understand the finer details of this important issue. Three physical illness groups have been selected since they are all prevalent in the UK primary care setting and have all been associated with depression in cross-sectional and prospective analyses. These illness are: arthritis, coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. These three diseases have also been selected since they have all been shown to have involve inflammatory processes, which is one hypothesised mechanism linking depression to physical illness. Importantly each of the three diseases manifest themselves with different symptoms, physical limitations and treatment regimes, making cross-group comparisons possible. Using face-to-face interviews of up to 60 primary care patients we aim to better delineate the similarities and differences in the experience of depression between those patients with a psychiatric diagnosis but who are otherwise physically healthy in comparison to those with depression and a comorbid physical illness. This research will help us to better understand the experience of depression in physical illness, helping to inform studies on the early identification and treatment of depression in primary care.