Comments: Mortality in Depressive Disorders; a 3-Year Prospective Follow-Up Study in Finland

Abstract

Interaction between depression and somatic illness is a complex process with many feedback effects (Fig. 1). The adaptation process ranges from the specific etiological and background factors to the illness and further, through the subjective meanings of the illness and the coping strategies, to the outcome. The worst possible outcome is the death of a patient. The same kind of process of adaptation can be used for depression, too. The important question is whether and in which way these processes interact with each other. Components modify each other’s functioning in a circular way, amplifying and/or weakening the main course of the process.