Immunology

A study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics has examined psychological well-being in patients who have recovered from depression.

Psychological well-being (PWB) might play a central role in the maintenance of mental health. PWB is based on the eudaimonic concept of well-being and encompasses six dimensions [3]: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. There is some evidence that a lack of PWB increases the vulnerability to future depressive episodes, even after controlling for several risk factors such as prior depression, personality, economic status, and physical health.However, to demonstrate the specific role of PWB in the course of depression, remitted individuals have to be compared not only to controls, but also to currently symptomatic individuals.

Therefore, the primary goal of our study was to assess PWB in remitted depressed patients, healthy controls, and acutely depressed patients. Three groups of participants (total sample n = 156) were recruited. Data of remitted patients with recurrent depression (RD; n = 63) were collected within a larger trial comparing cognitive-behavioral maintenance therapy and psychoeducation .  Acutely depressed patients (AD; n = 43) were recruited in the outpatient clinic at the Department of Psychology, University of Jena, Germany. Most patients received psychopharmacological treatment. The healthy control group (n = 50) was recruited via newspaper advertisement. Inclusion criteria were the absence of current mental disorders and history of major depression. Participants of all three groups had an age of 18-70 years.