Contact: Jane Leserman, PhD
Phone: (919) 966-4755
Email: Jles@med.unc.edu
Embargoed until: March 16, 2002

BARCELONA, SPAIN-- If you are infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus, then having conflict with the people in your life may lead to developing a major depression. In fact, social conflict and other stresses may be more important than changes in disease status when it comes to developing a major depression. HIV infected men who felt like people in their life let them down, irritated them, misunderstood them, and did not respect them, were at greater risk for developing depression than men who were more supported in their social interactions. These findings were from a nine-year study conducted by Jane Leserman, PhD and colleagues in the Departments of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of Florida at Gainesville, and University of Pennsylvania. Results from these studies were presented at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, held March 13-16th in Barcelona, Spain.

Leserman studied 96 HIV infected men every six months for nine years to determine how changes in disease status (drop in CD4 helper cells and developing an AIDS clinical symptom), occurrence of previous depression, severity of stressful life events, satisfaction with social support, and conflict in social relationships might affect developing a major depression. During the 9 years, 29% (28 of 96) developed a depression. Of those who had experienced an episode of depression before entering the study, 61% developed a depression during the nine-year follow-up.

"We found that men who had a previous depression and more conflicting social relationships were more likely to develop depression," Leserman noted. "In fact, men with one-point higher in conflict (1-5 scale) had over twice the risk of becoming depressed during the nine-year study."

Leserman concludes that, "Physicians treating HIV infected patients need to know more about the lives of their patients including past psychiatric history and current social support. When patients are having a lot of social turmoil, they may be at greater risk for depression. People live with HIV infection for a long time. Often the most salient stresses are those that bother all of us, like having conflict with people in our personal lives. These conflicts may be more important to the mental health of HIV-infected patients than changes in disease status."

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