At one time it was thought that his depression was caused by mathematical worries and as a result of difficulties of his relationship with Kronecker in particular. Recently, however, a better understanding of mental illness has meant that we can now be certain that Cantor's mathematical worries and his difficult relationships were greatly magnified by his depression but were not its cause (see for example and).
Sa isang panahon ito ay na-iisip na ang kanyang depression ay sanhi ng pagkabalisa sa pamamagitan ng matematika at bilang isang resulta ng paghihirap ng kanyang relasyon sa Kronecker sa partikular na. Kamakailan, gayunman, ang isang mas mahusay na-unawa ng mga sakit sa kaisipan ay sinadya na namin ngayon ay maaaring maging tiyak na kantor ng matematika ng pagkabalisa at mahirap ang kanyang relasyon ay malaki magnified sa pamamagitan ng kanyang depression ngunit hindi nito sanhi ng (tingnan ang mga halimbawa at).