Your genes' role in depression - Blues in the News

Shape, March, 2004

Why do some people bounce back from life's cruel curveballs, while others plunge into depression? The explanation may lie in genetic vulnerability. Researchers from King's College, London, and other universities tracked 847 men and women from birth to age 26, noting their reaction to stresses such as job loss and divorce. People with a variation in a gene that regulates the mood-modulating neurotransmitter serotonin were 2.5 times more likely to get depressed after a crisis. Researcher Terrie Moffitt, Ph.D., says it's too early to test for this genetic variation, but doing so might be feasible someday.

The study should reassure depression-prone people that overcoming depression is not just a matter of simply pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, says Heather Krell, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, Neuropsychiatric Institute. Some people are more genetically vulnerable to depression and need professional help to boost their mood after a crisis.--K.D.