In one British study, feelings of financial insecurity both caused and prolonged depression, while actual poverty or unemployment tended not to play any causal role. A European study reporting higher rates of depression in men and lower rates in women over a period of time that coincided with more women entering the work force suggested that the depression men experienced may derive from a reduction in their social status. And the longer the immigrants lived in the U.S. the greater their risk for psychiatric problems. Traditional Mexican cultural effects and social ties, then, appear to protect newly arrived immigrants from mental illness, even when they are poor. Accompanying Medical or Emotional Disorders Severe or Chronic Medical Conditions.
Depression follows or is caused by many medications or serious medical problems.
A number of studies have associated low cholesterol and high triglyceride levels with depression, although it is not clear whether these factors or accompanying health problems reduce spirits. Emotional and Personality Disorders . Chronic depression is a frequent companion to anxiety disorders. Personality disorders, such as borderline and avoidant personalities, appear to strongly predispose people not only to a first episode of depression but to relapses. A person with a borderline personality disorder is one who acts impulsively and has a poor self-image and unstable relationships.