Scientists have revealed what problems depression can lead to if left untreated

Scientists from China's Fudan University found that not treating depression increases the risk of developing dementia. The results of the study were published in the journal Biological Psychiatry (Bio Psychiatry).

More than 350,000 people who were diagnosed with dementia participated in the research. The scientists asked the volunteers to tell whether they had been diagnosed with depression in the past or not, and what treatment methods they had used when diagnosed with the problem. The scientists also collected data on the participants' current symptoms of depression at the time of participating in the experiment.

The symptoms indicative of the problem were divided into four groups according to their nature: increasing, decreasing, chronic intense and low intensity. The scientists divided the participants into two groups, in the first of which there were people who had previously taken antidepressants and had therapy with a psychotherapist, and in the second those who did not treat depression after the diagnosis.

It has been found that people who have not received any therapy for depression are 30 percent more likely to develop dementia compared to people who have been treated for depression. In addition, untreated volunteers often had high-intensity depressive symptoms, which negatively affected their quality of life.