Can anxiety and depression be contagious?

Can you get a mental illness like anxiety and depression? Many people believe that it is, according to a study published in the scientific magazine Memory & Cognition. In the study, participants reported that back in interactions with someone suffering from anxiety, alcoholism, anorexia, or even schizophrenia, the disease “climbed” and those.

The answer, according to experts, is not mental illness. But reality isn't a track. True, we are influenced by the emotions and vices of the people we spend time with. If your close friend suffers from anxiety and is constantly stressed and worried, you too may begin to experience the same emotions. If a member of your family suffers from depression, you may notice mood swings after spending time with them.

“Emotions are contagious because people are social beings that react to the environment,” says Judy Ho, clinical psychologist and criminal in Southeast California. “Emotional wisdom means to feel or express the same emotion as those around you because you believe you should feel the same. We observe others to see how we should react, and emotional climbing is a form of this. ”

But feeling anxiety like your friend does not mean that you suffer from the same growl. For the only reason that mental illness cannot go from person to person like the flu. Psychological and psychiatric disorders are not caused by infectious agents and therefore cannot be attached to someone else” explains Gail Saltz, a physician and professor of psychiatry.

“Mental disease is caused by a number of biological, genetic and environmental factors,” Next Ho. The “in particular stems from inherited forms, since mental illness is more similar in those who have such a family history. Environmental factors such as trauma, childhood abuse, or even exposure to negative toxins during pregnancy may be linked to mental illness. ”

So if you fear a mental illness, study the history of your family rather than the people around you. The idea that social interactions increase the chances of diagnosis with mental illness stems from the fact that emotions are easily conveyed from each other,” says Ho. “But emotions are temporary and do not represent significant diseases that need treatment. ”

Source Layer: Health