Depression gene found

[norml]

Depression gene found

By Clair Weaver and Andrew Chesterton
26-02-2006
From: The Sunday Telegraph


IN a world first, researchers from NSW have discovered the gene responsible for depression.

After 25 years' research, scientists have found that people who carry a particular gene are more likely to suffer depression regardless of their life experiences.
The medical breakthrough will have major ramifications for diagnosis and treatment of the disease which affects one in four Australians.

The study, to be published in the prestigious British Journal of Psychiatry this week, shows that people who carry a short serotonin transporter gene are predisposed to depression.

Conversely, those who carry a long version of the serotonin transporter gene would be more resilient to whatever life throws at them.

Around 43per cent of the population is believed to carry the short version of the gene.

The breakthrough comes in the wake of a series of recent high-profile cases of depression, including former WA premier Geoff Gallop, the late rugby league legend Steve Rogers and former state opposition leader John Brogden.

Former Australian Olympic swimmer John Konrads and actor Garry McDonald were also sufferers. It is hoped the findings could be used to pre-warn carriers of their susceptibility and take early preventative treatment.

Mr Konrads described the breakthrough as exciting.


snip


http://www.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,18273308,00.html

[lovuian]

1. 43% of the population thats alot of people

but yes its a heck of a discovery...

[ljm2002]

2. "Around 43per cent of the population..."

"...is believed to carry the short version of the gene."

So 57 percent of the population is "more resilient" than the other 43 percent.

If one buys that we evolve in ways that tend to favor survival traits, I'd say a trait carried by 43 percent of the population is, by definition, a successful evolutionary trait. There must be advantages to the gene in question.

In my own view, I believe that our societal structures, at least in modernized countries, themselves are unfriendly to sensitive artistic types. Certainly in the U.S. we idolize athletes, moguls, and various other Type-A personalities and tend to exclude artists, dreamers and nerds -- until and unless they make zillions of dollars, in which case they are granted an exemption from the usual rules.

Not arguing with the science per se, just the interpretation. It worries me that someone might believe that 43 percent of the population is in need of some kind of "treatment" because they are "predisposed to depression".

[smirkymonkey]

5. Excellent point!

"In my own view, I believe that our societal structures, at least in modernized countries, themselves are unfriendly to sensitive artistic types. Certainly in the U.S. we idolize athletes, moguls, and various other Type-A personalities and tend to exclude artists, dreamers and nerds -- until and unless they make zillions of dollars, in which case they are granted an exemption from the usual rules."

I think resiliency might be due in part to a lack of sensitivity and a certain hardness. Most people that I have met who claim never to have been depressed also display an incredible lack of empathy, sensitivity and warmth. Instead of pathologizing those who are more sensitive, creative and who find this insane world too much to bear at times, I think recognizing and supporting differences in personality types would be essential in opening the door to more humane treatment of sufferers.

We have a very narrowly defined notion of what is "normal" and "healthy" in this culture and I think that contributes to our epidemic of violence, hatred and intolerance. Most people, in their hearts, know they don't live up to the "ideal" and secretly hate themselves for it.

[havocmom]

33. And a lot who have never been depressed are not real good

about addressing reality either ;)

There was a study done mid to later 90s (I wasn't online at the time so no link) that showed people who were prone to chronic depression tended to view things more realistically than those who said they have never had problems with depression.

Sure, it's easy to be friggin happy all the time if one is oblivious to the situation!And that sorta plays along with Will's announcement that conservatives are happier than liberals. Sure, cuz we know things need to be fixed! :D

[slaveplanet]

48. Yep that is the scary aspect.

quite possibly 57% of the population are functioning psychopaths.

I've always viewed depression as due in large part to the fact that many people realize that the emerald city ain't all its cracked up to be. And though many have pulled back the curtain and come to realize the great OZ is really just an evil little troll, A greater percentage just won't bother to go near the curtain at any cost.

[katty]

58. If you've NEVER been depressed-you're hardly breathing

[undergroundpanther]

45. Wonder if they will do

a test for the
"sociopathy" gene. Could finding the gene for what makes someone a bully be used to find out how many ASSHOLES who can't feel empathy exist and have to dominate and win even if they destroy everything in thier way to the"top".

I bet the thugs in power knowing they are less than human will not submit samples that would reveal THIER genetic flaws..

[Boomer]

7. This is NOT a dysfunctional gene

If depression is so strongly lined to a gene that is so widely disbursed through human population, then the puzzle is only half solved. This gene also must confer some distinct advantage that outweighs the disadvantage of depression.

Reminds me of the gene for sickle-cell anemia. When you're carrying two genes, you suffer a crippling illness, but one gene helps confer protection against malaria.

So I wouldn't be surprised to find out that inheriting the depression gene from both parents leads a crippling emotional disorder. But we need to find out what the milder version does to sustain itself in the population.

[Critters2]

20. I read somewhere

that depression was a useful genetic trait in the Northern Hemisphere in the days before electric light, central heat, etc. Depressive people are likely to sleep quite a lot, eat less, and generally use less energy. Thus, in the long cold days of the winter, this was advantageous. Less food was available, and there was a distinct advantage to staying inside in the warmth as much as possible. Sleeping was a good mechanism in coping with short, dark days.

I'll see if I can find the source...

[murray hill farm]

9. Sure, the pharmas will jump all over this one, but

or also...the govt...but still...a good discovery. In regard to your possible creative link to depression, there have been many studies that show the ability to "self comfort" oneself..through being a creative thinker and dreamer and appreciator of the art and beauty of life is a huge deterrent to depression...meditation also is tremendously helpful...and the big one..active physically..so i don't know if creative people are really not more prone to depression, but less. Anyway...a wondrous discovery.

[ljm2002]

12. re: deterrents to depression

Totally agree there are ways to deter depression, even if one is predisposed. Similar to adult onset diabetes -- there is a genetic component, and yet all who carry it are not going to end up with diabetes; on the contrary, with correct diet and exercise it is possible to avoid it entirely. Same is true for depression, although we may not understand it as precisely yet.

My problem with all of these studies of depression, and the widespread medication for it, is that people assume cause and effect. For example, low levels of serotonin are discovered in depressed patients and it is assumed that is the cause of the depression; whereas, it is quite possible that the depressed emotional state was the cause of the reduced serotonin.

Please understand one thing: I am not minimizing depression, nor saying there is no place for medication. It just worries me that we often think we have an understanding of a very complex phenomenon, by virtue of grasping one aspect. In this case, a gene has been discovered. They call it a depression gene. Yet it is carried by 43% of the population -- i.e. it is successful from an evolutionary point of view. Therefore, there must be some benefit inherent in the gene as well. But these headlines will be a great way for Big Pharma to sell more meds. And the gene has already been labeled negatively, and the issue of Depression can now be thought of as well defined -- after all, it's just a gene, now we know the Root Cause, we can medicate, all's well.

I don't buy the simplistic notion. Neither do I minimize the actual affliction.

[Lorien]

28. I think we are slightly more prone to it

I've battled clinical depression my entire life, and I'm a professional artist. My father also struggles with it, and he's a musician when he's not at the office. I've worked in several large animation studios, and I'd say that 70% or so of the artists regularly battled depression. The percentage that didn't usually got promoted to management rolls, regardless of their artistic ability.

I've never viewed depression as anything but an illness and disability. Depression can easily kill any appreciation for life or beauty; in my experience, it's not a "blessing in disguise".

[kineneb]

35. hear, hear!

I am a musician and I have had the same experiences: reoccurring clinical depressions since childhood, family histories of depression (suicide) and alcohol abuse. There is nothing redeeming about severe depression. So I will happily continue with my medications, so I don't wind up as another statistic. It is nice that science has confirmed what I had figured.

[DemExpat]

11. I basically agree with your interpretation.....

....so 43% of the population is in some way more sensitive than the other - I would think (I do believe) that having these kinds of people are vital to survival of the human race.

Not all depression is a disease IMO to be treated pharmaceutically, a tendency in society lately that I am very wary of.

But this study might be very positive in helping people take precautions and learn techniques to ward off full-blown depressions.
Hopefully it would not be used to somehow coerce those with the short gene to take medication. (For example, schools, workplaces, insurance policies, etc.)

DemEx

[ljm2002]

13. re: being more sensitive

I also agree with what you are saying. In our modern world when we think of "more sensitive" we think of artistic, moody, things like that. But as a survival trait, perhaps it is connected with the ability to sense and to notice things that others do not. Pure speculation of course, but still, if 43% of the population carry it, then it almost certainly has some associated benefit.

Not sure that this finding itself will help people to take precautions. Seems to me it is more likely to be used as a hard sell by Big Pharma for their depression meds. While I am not against using such meds, I feel they are being pushed, and that people use them long term when they may not need to.

And I do think our social structures, and what we idolize as a culture (athletes, the military, type A executives), has a causative effect on depression for those of us with a different personality makeup from "the norm".

Oh well. As one of my favorite bumper stickers says, Why Be Normal?

[spooky3]

16. There have been studies that show that depressed people are more honest

about events, especially negative aspects of the events and about their own shortcomings (I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember the specifics) than are people who aren't depressed. The rose-colored glasses people who are always "happy" are blissfully unaware of reality in some cases.

And IMHO some of those clueless "happy" people run around making everyone else miserable! :-)

[kalibex]

36. HSP, all the way! n/t

[stepnw1f]

15. Very Insightful and I Agree

I am one within the 43%... there are strengths for me as an artist, but many many weaknesses as a member of society. I do however think there is a purpose to our predisposition regardless where we find ourselves within this study. Thank you for pointing out as much.

[smirkymonkey]

3. Kick!

I hope this leads to better and more effective treatment for sufferers - I wouldn't wish the hell of depression on my worst enemy.

[louis-t]

4. They're going to find a depression gene at my house

if we don't get rid of this shitty president soon.
Lou

[murray hill farm]

6. So, then it could also be called the "happy gene"

dependent on the length of the transporter ?

[LiberalEsto]

8. "Confidentially"

In the story it says people "could confidentially find out" if they carry the gene.

Confidentially my foot. The US insurance corporations are probably already drooling over the prospect of being able to deny depression treatment to 43 percent of the population because of their "pre-existing condition." The other 57 percent won't need depression treatment, so the insurance corporations will be able to avoid paying for any depression treatments. Whee! More profits!

So depressed people will have to pay through the nose for their own counseling, medication, and other therapy.

[blue neen]

23. Depressed people already do pay through the nose.

Co-pays are higher for mental health coverage. There are greater limits on hospital stays. Some insurances actually deny coverage completely.

Insurance companies have been getting away with discriminating against the mentally ill for far too long.

You see, "it's all in your head."

[LiberalEsto]

24. yes, I'm aware of that

I'm one of them

[blue neen]

25. I guess we should be grateful for the progress that has been made.

They used to burn people like us at the stake!

My hope is that these studies will find better ways of treating depression. Some of the side-effects of these medications make it almost impossible to stay on them. It's a challenge, that's for sure.

[Blue_Tires]

46. funny you should mention that

on Friday i was rejected for health insurance because of my depression history....

[elehhhhna]

10. Nom'd simple for the use of "pre-warn" by a major media outlet.

Pre-warn. God, my pal Mark used to say it and it STILL CRACKS ME UP! Pre-warn. Not redundant al all.

[lumpy]

14. Geo.W.Bush is the depression gene.

nt

[ananda]

17. Well..

I've had phases of depression in my life, but
I haven't been depressed in years.

I just thought depression was a normal part
of life, along with joys and angers and other
emotions... that make us all human.

Sue

[Dervill Crow]

52. Clinical depression isn't quite the same.

Situational depression as a response to something going on in your life is normal. Disabling depression is entirely different.

[fshrink]

18. It is about 1/2 a century now that

we know that all mental disorders have a genetic component. It is also about 1/2 century now that we know that this genetic predisposition is nither sufficient nor necessary. Some people with the predisposition do not develop the disorder, some people without the predisposition do develop it. Just like schizophrenia. Now, I understand the excitement of the pharmaceutical firms very well since "prevention" represents an eldorado with no end in sight. Better than oil really. I also understand that all attempts at even superficially question the environmental conditions of human life are deemed irrelevant. Shut up, don't question the power, don't question yourself, just take the fucking pill.

[shrike]

19. Does that mean they'll stop telling me to "snap out of it"

Or lighten up?

Now, I haven't heard that in a while, but I can REMEMBER hearing it -- grrrr.

[Critters2]

21. Sumthin' wrong with your bootstraps?

Honestly, someone asked me that once when I was in the throes of a really nasty depression. Almost made my "can of whupass" gene kick in.

[smirkymonkey]

43. What an ignorant thing to say.

I think I would have kicked that persons head in.

[Sacajawea]

32. Someone (a cardiologist! an MD!!) once told my severely depressed friend

....to "BUCK UP."

The mind reels. :crazy:

[havocmom]

34. Did the doctor have a GYN brother?

Had one of those tell me he didn't believe in PMS. I had great difficulty fighting urge to kick him in the groin and tell him I didn't believe in balls.

[blue neen]

22. This is a significant finding.

We are long overdue for the general population to recognize that clinical depression is a genuine illness, not a personality trait. People who suffer from depression often do not seek treatment because of the stigma associated with mental illness. They then self-medicate and end up with severe drug and alcohol problems. They have also recently discovered that people who are morbidly obese are low in serotonin.

Society as a whole needs to recognize that depression is not something you can snap out of or wish away, any more than you can "snap out of" Type 1 Diabetes. A depressed person already feels low enough. He or she does not need to feel as if they have brought this on themselves.

Depression can lower your immune response, making you susceptible to other illnesses. My husband's blood pressure finally dropped to normal levels (the first time in 20 years) after he started taking an anti-depressant earlier this year.

My husband and I have both been treated for depression. Guess what? Our son was diagnosed with it at an early age. We didn't want that to be the case, but we all did face the reality of our genes. We're better off that way.

[AngryAmish]

26. My favorite gene

<>

[Critters2]

27. Here's a theory as to genetic advantage in depression

It turns out we depressives are the omega dogs. As if I didn't know...

http://huxley.net/rankmood/

[ljm2002]

29. With all due respect...

...that theory sounds to me like Social Darwinism run amok.

A rank theory, indeed.

[Critters2]

30. Hey, it's just a theory

and not my theory at that.

Sorry

[ljm2002]

38. Hey, no worries...

...my snarkiness was not directed at you!

Sorry back.

[Critters2]

49. It's all good

:toast:

[Clarkie1]

31. Is there a test to see if you have the gene? n/t

[loudsue]

55. So...as per the Huxley report...I guess REVOLUTIONARIES

are the folks that didn't "stay hit", after they took a beating from the "dominant" folks.

I say, therefore, that being a revolutionary is a GREAT antidote to depression.

That's my logic, anyway. And it was good enough for my forefathers/mothers.

:kick::kick::kick:

[rman]

57. "evident fact that in any asymmetrical society there are potentially more

more losers than winners..."

interesting

It implies that a more symmetrical society would have fewer depressed people.

[mdmc]

37. a kick for all the sadness

:kick:

[dave29]

39. this gene is half empty

apparantly

[Nothing Without Hope]

40. Fascinating, though I do object to the article's phrasing: "THE gene

for depression." There are doubtless many more causes. Not all people are treatable with antidepressants targetted at serotonin metabolism/uptake, and even for those that do respond, it's a very complex pathway with many other possible variations.

I do wonder if there is also a hidden BENEFIT to carrying the short form of the affected gene - it's certainly widespread.

Thanks for posting!

[LosinIt]

41. DEMOCRATIC gene found. Feeling, empathy, insight. Sounds likes it to me.

It also tends to run in families, although there are those recessive 'thowbacks'. This would help to explain the geographic clustering along the coastal areas of the United States and in urban areas. This definitely deserves further study.

</sarcasm>

[Kailassa]

42. My guess is that ...

having people within it who carry this gene will make a society more resiliant and likely to survive as a whole, as these people are more likely to have empathy for others, and help to hold society together.

I've got a story to tell about depression, that only a person who has experienced it would find funny.

I was on my way to church, walking on my own, when the blackness hit me and the tears started. It does that to me, no warning, just suddenly I'm mentally in agony and feel a desperate need to kill myself, and my eyes just won't stop their darned leaking. All the hatred I encountered as a child seems to materialize into black devils that hammer away at my brain with thumbscrews and acid. I figured though I could just sit quietly in the back row and snuck out quietly before other people were leaving, and so not have to encounter people while I was in that state.

So there I was, back row, all by myself, thinking I was safe, when the over-observant preacher looked up in the middle of his sermon. "Oh, look, everybody, poor Carol is crying! Lets all come and give her a hug to make her feel better." I could have killed the beast for drawing peoples' attention to me like that. And all these nice Christian ladies, whose feelings I did not want to hurt, started crowding around, wanting to hug me ... and I could not bear the idea of being touched. So I backed down the seat, and told them I had a bad case of chicken-pox.

I tried to leave early, but the Sunday-school kids came pouring into the church, and I couldn't escape, then these innocent country folk put on their sheep-dog act, and I was herded into the hall to have "a nice little cup of tea and a cry on a shoulder," which they were sure would make everything alright again. While in my head I could not stop scenes flashing past of my parents trying to kill me and worse, that a younger me had once lived through.

Well, ok, I guess it's not really a funny story, but it makes me laugh, these kind hearted people innocently being such bastards. It is so easy for our best efforts to help to be severely misguided.

These days, btw, I take prozac off and on, and it takes the edge off such times.

[kalibex]

44. Yeah...

Sometimes when in a certain 'borderline depressive zone' IME distraction can help...but it's usually when being with just a few people you actually know...

So yeah....the Irony. :banghead:

-B

[undergroundpanther]

47. I'm depressed because

I'm stuck in a world of predatory assholes, intent on controlling,taking advantage,para-siting and destroying my spirit.
Which they do not have and will never understand.

A world without sociopaths would be a livable world..for me.
That is why I say I am NOT from this predatory type of world,

and I suspect the pain of social defeat another poster linked to,that causes depression along with some flawed genetics maybe reinforced over generations of defeat brought forth by the new generation being hurt in a predatory sociopath favored reality like ours is the cause of our suffering.We are not predatory (I don't like torture)yet we are in a predatory world controlled by predatory people who do like torture.

http://montalk.net/alien/53/alien-origins-of-sociopathy

Call me crazy but the problem is WE are the aliens forced or hoodwinked to be in a sociopathic predatory world that is not suited to our natural empathic spirit.

[Lilith Velkor]

50. From your link

"Empathy is antithetical to control, which is why control systems demand psychopathy as the standard mode of function."

That's pretty much it right there. I've been told and told and told how I'm too sensitive and care too much and need to focus on myself, or that people treat me like shit because I "don't love myself."

(Public service announcement: if anyone in your life insists you don't love yourself, run away from that person, run fast and far and never look back, and if they chase after you, shoot them.)

As for the human/alien dichotomy thing, I dunno, but I suspect all sentient lifeforms are a mixed bag.

[Akoto]

53. I can sympathize.

I don't really have depression so much as I do anxiety disorder, but both are things people really can't understand without personal experience. It doesn't enter their minds that one could be permanently locked into 'sad' or 'terrified' mode.

You can't really fault them for honestly wanting to help, since they don't know any better, but it becomes frustrating when you just want some space and can't get it!

[steve2470]

51. I agree with previous posters that attributing all of depression...

to a single gene is simplistic. The one benefit of this discovery, and maybe more like it, is that those suffering from clinical depression may be gradually shepherded into the medical "mainstream" and lose the stigma. Right now, there is still a trememdous stigma against openly discussing one's depression. Yes, I do believe the big pharmas will try to abuse this. Yes, I do believe that some clients/patients will take medication and not do anything more. The clients who care to do a bit of research (or who have excellent doctors) will discover that a combination of counseling, medication, exercise, etc. usually provides the best results. I just hope that those with the gene are not discriminated against in the future.

[stepnw1f]

54. I Know About That STigma Personally

It really sucks..

[Just Me]

56. What if it's really an "empathy gene". Are they gonna rid us of that?

:shrug:

If 43% of the population carries this gene, my guess is that it is something other or more than a depression gene and is more likely than not necessary to human survival.

I'd be exTREMELY cautious in how this "breakthrough" is interpreted and manipulated.

I'm all for relieving the symptoms of those suffering an unshakeable darkness. However, I believe it's unwise to assume such darkness arises from ONLY nature rather than a mixture of both nature and environment.

[mdmc]

59. I've always thought that depression was the result

of knowing what impermanence is, but being unable to accept this inevitability (the inevitability that everything you love, dies).

Perhaps empathy is simply depression of impremenacne, turned outwords.