by Alex Cull

Created on: March 05, 2008

Is money (or the lack of it) invariably linked with depression? Well, although money issues can certainly be a factor when a person becomes depressed, I would argue that this is not always the case, and that depression can often have little or nothing to do with money - or its absence.

First, there's a strong link between major or clinical depression and heredity. Depression runs in families, as does bipolar disorder, so if your parents had a history of clinical depression, chances are that you (whether you are a princess or a pauper) will have inherited a vulnerability to that condition. It's simply a possibility, not a certainty, and it's to do with your genes and not the condition of your wallet.

This leaves the range of mild to acute depression that most people experience from time to time but is not devastating enough, normally, to warrant medical attention. You probably know what I'm talking about, feelings ranging from a mild case of the "blues" right up to persistent sadness, muffled anger or a pervasive sense that life has no meaning.

It's true that difficulties with money can lead to depression. A survey in the UK by
the National Depression Campaign found that 88% of people rated money problems as a likely cause, 1% more than the number of people that linked depression to a death or illness in the family. And that was back in 1999. With the credit crunch and spiralling personal debt often in the news in recent times, I would not be surprised to find this percentage even higher now. It's no wonder that for many people finances seem to be inextricably linked to anxiety and gloom.

And yet... Even without studies and surveys, common sense tells us that money troubles are not the only reason why people get depressed. Despondency often sets in when we feel helpless and unable to avoid the setbacks life sends us. Thus a bullied schoolchild, a harassed employee, a convict in an overcrowded gaol, a bereaved husband or wife and a long-term invalid all may well suffer depression as a result of adverse life conditions.

Each of them might succumb to despair and helplessness, but it would have little or nothing to do with the state of his or her bank balance, and a lot more to do with relationships and physical circumstances.

So much, then, for depression caused by not having enough money. Could it be that having too much of it is also a problem?

The Happy Planet Index, introduced in 2006 by the New Economics Foundation, makes for some interesting (if controversial) reading.

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