The only other condition accompanying coronary disease which carries a level of comparable seriousness for prognosis is co-existing heart failure. Depression occurs in conjunction with a whole host of diseases. For example, it is noteworthy that depression appears more prominently in certain brain locations for stroke. But the far reaching impact of psychiatric illness has been illustrated further. The World Health Organization has classified the illnesses which will create the most impact over the next several decades, and five of them are psychiatric disorders.
Depression is the second leading cause of morbidity due to illness and illness impact.
Now if that is not enough to demonstrate that psychiatric disorders are mainstream, leaders such as Roman DeSanctis note that people with depression have a greater risk of heart disease and also of related death. Eighteen of some 19 studies have shown that both men and women with manic depressive disease and major depression, have increased risk of cardiovascular deaths. These studies have been done in a variety of settings including communities, hospitals, people in normal conditions, etc. Multiple factors have been checked to make sure that the critical factor was the depression itself and that the adverse effect was not mediated through some other factor like smoking. The studies all support a correlation between depression and heart disease.