Diabetes and depression: A review with special focus on India

Abstract

Diabetes, a psychologically challenging condition for the patients and their

care givers, has been found to be a significant risk factor for depression.

Depression may be a critical barrier to effective diabetes management. The

accompanying fatigue remarkably lowers the motivation for self-care, often

leading to lowered physical and emotion well-being, poor markers of

diabetes control, poor adherence to medication, and increased mortality

among individuals with diabetes. A very small proportion of the diabetes

patients with depression get diagnosed, and furthermore, only a handful of

the ones diagnosed get treated for depression. Despite the fact that 80

percent of the people with type 2 diabetes reside in low and middle income countries, most of the evidence on

diabetes and depression comes from high income countries. This review offers a summary of existing evidence

and the potential gaps that need to be addressed.