Mortality and late-onset affective disorder

Psychiatric illness is associated with increased morbidity and mortality from physical illness. A particular association between depression and reduced expectation of life in males has been previously noted. If depression is a manifestation of incipient fatal illness, it might be predicted that those who had not previously been depressed would be at greater risk of dying in the next few years. This was not confirmed in a 5-year follow-up study, which found a higher overall mortality from natural causes in male patients with both late and early onset of depression.