There are correlations, sometimes causative, between physical illnesses and mental illnesses. For example, the American Diabetes Association says that people with diabetes have a greater risk of depression than those without the disease. Diabetics are not alone. After a heart attack or cardiac surgery, patients are naturally likely to feel depressed. But for some, especially those with cardiovascular disease, as many as 15 percent experience major depression. For those who’ve had coronary artery bypass surgery the number is as high as 20 percent.

There may be many reasons why this is so. For some, the fear and sadness triggered by having a debilitating illness, if left unchecked, can develop into major depression. But sometimes the diseases themselves can cause physiological changes that mimic depression, especially in the case of diabetes.

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