# Correlation between depression and presence of loving significant other **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059 "2014-03-19T03:44:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/1 "2014-03-19T03:44:35Z")
Something I read the other day made me wonder if there is a correlation between depression or depressive feelings and presence of a loving significant other, i.e. someone whom you love greatly and they love you greatly too. Poll coming up ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/2 "2014-03-19T05:04:16Z")
I’m having trouble understanding the question. Who is depressed, and are the feelings about the significant other? ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/3 "2014-03-19T05:11:11Z")
> [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](#): > > I’m having trouble understanding the question. Who is depressed, and are the feelings about the significant other? The question is whether the person answering the poll [ul] [li]Is depressed or has depressive feelings (in general, not about his/her significant other)[/li][li]Is living with a significant other that is loving and is loved[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/4 "2014-03-19T05:43:31Z")
IMHO/IScience’sHO, you can be _sad_ if you don’t have love, but depression is a state as a result of your biochemistry and previous stressors. In other words, loneliness doesn’t cause depression, but it can exacerbate it. In my experience it doesn’t matter as I’ll always be somewhere on the depression continuum and didn’t experience any less after shacking up. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/5 "2014-03-19T11:40:14Z")
I think you are going to get responses conflating depression with loneliness. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/6 "2014-03-19T13:19:07Z")
I’ve had chronic depression since puberty, more than 50 years ago. It’s always there, just below the surface, regardless of what’s going on in my life. I’ve gone through long periods of isolation, and I’ve been in a loving relationship for over 26 years. Sure, difficult times may exacerbate the depression, and good times may ameliorate it, but it’s basically something internal. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/7 "2014-03-19T15:17:34Z")
> [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](#): > > I think you are going to get responses conflating depression with loneliness. It’s a little premature based on 14 responses, but so far we have 2:1 for depression in singles and 7:4 for it in couples. That would support the idea that depression is its own issue regardless of relationship status. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/8 "2014-03-19T16:22:44Z")
I didn’t vote, because while I’m not depressive, my spouse is. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/9 "2014-03-19T19:12:42Z")
Being in a relationship can indeed help reduce the effects of depression - your SO can remind you to take your pills. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/10 "2014-03-19T19:24:12Z")
With the usual caveats that this is not a scientific study, and the sample size is too small, below are the results so far ```auto Probability being depressive given loving SO = 8/13 = 61.5% Probability being depressive given no loving SO = 6/7 = 85.7% Probability having loving SO given being depressive = 8/14 = 57.1% Probability having loving SO given not being depressive = 5/6 = 83.3% ``` Not clear which way the causation goes, but it does seem that (a) if you have a loving SO you have a much lower probability of being depressive and (b) the likelihood that someone has a loving SO is much lower if they are depressive than if they are not depressive. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/11 "2014-03-19T21:11:22Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > It’s a little premature based on 14 responses, but so far we have 2:1 for depression in singles and 7:4 for it in couples. That would support the idea that depression is its own issue regardless of relationship status. You can be lonely in a relationship. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/12 "2014-03-19T22:35:33Z")
Hi, diagnosed with depression here. Being in a relationship has nothing to do with depression. Depression is caused by neurochemistry. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/13 "2014-03-19T22:51:16Z")
‘Depression’ is a vague term used to commonly identify several different types of mood disorder, apparently. Clinical depression is only one of these. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/14 "2014-03-19T23:05:32Z")
Updated results: ```auto Probability being depressive given loving SO = 14/21 = 66.7% Probability being depressive given no loving SO = 8/9 = 88.9% Probability having loving SO given being depressive = 14/22 = 63.6% Probability having loving SO given not being depressive = 7/8 = 87.5% ``` ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/15 "2014-03-19T23:08:50Z")
> [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](#): > > ‘Depression’ is a vague term used to commonly identify several different types of mood disorder, apparently. Clinical depression is only one of these. Agreed, plus it’s not clear if the OP is distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous forms. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/16 "2014-03-19T23:22:01Z")
Sorry, I’m not seeing how this poll is in any way meaningful. Everyone experiences some degree of depressive feelings at some time in their lives. These feelings may not always add up to full-blown clinical depression, but everyone has felt lonely, sad, fatigued, and anhedonic SOMETIME in their life. Seems to me the OP should be asking people if they experience more of these feelings (or more intense feelings) when they are alone versus when they were with a loving SO. The OP still wouldn’t be able to make a grand conclusion from the results, but at least it would tell him/her something about how the two variables relate to one another. I don’t know what you can possibly conclude from the poll the way it’s written now. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/17 "2014-03-20T00:00:40Z")
The poll is not going to work, because some of us do not have depression in either state (paired or single). I had a three month bout of clinical depression when I was in my early twenties and single. I have not had depression since. In the time between then and now I was single, married, widowed and therefore single, and remarried. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/18 "2014-03-20T00:09:58Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > The poll is not going to work, because some of us do not have depression in either state (paired or single). > > I had a three month bout of clinical depression when I was in my early twenties and single. I have not had depression since. In the time between then and now I was single, married, widowed and therefore single, and remarried. Don’t answer based on your history, just answer based on your current status. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/19 "2014-03-20T00:15:48Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Agreed, plus it’s not clear if the OP is distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous forms. The concept is simple: Do you frequently feel very sad or depressed? Whether the reasons are endogenous or exogenous should not affect your answer to this poll. Many times people don’t even know what is causing them to be depressed, so how can they vote in a poll depending on the form of depression they have? If there is a correlation between \*any \*type of depression and having a loving SO, it should show up in the poll. Only if all types of depression are uncorrelated with your SO status will there be no correlation in the results. The only thing I wish I had done when setting up this poll would be to have three options for your current status: With SO who is loving, with SO who is not loving, without an SO (single) It would be interesting to see if, statistically, it turns out to be better to be single or with an SO who is not loving. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059/20 "2014-03-20T00:26:45Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Many times people don’t even know what is causing them to be depressed, so how can they vote in a poll depending on the form of depression they have? A lot of people don’t even know they are depressed. > [@](#): > > If there is a correlation between \*any \*type of depression and having a loving SO, it should show up in the poll. Only if all types of depression are uncorrelated with your SO status will there be no correlation in the results. If you want to look at correlation, this poll isn’t is the best way to do that. You’d be better off ask people if they feel more depressed when they are with someone versus when they are alone. It’s like you are wondering if appetite is correlated with BMI and you’re trying to assess this by asking people to state whether they are fat and hungry, fat and not hungry, or skinny and hungry, and skinny and not hungry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correlation-between-depression-and-presence-of-loving-significant-other/684059.md?page=2)