The contagious nature of bacterial or viral infections like strep throat or influenza is well understood. You’re at risk of catching the flu, for example, if someone near you has it, as the virus can be spread by way of droplets in the air, among other modes of transmission. But what about a person’s mental health? Can depression be contagious?
A JAMA Psychiatry paper … seemed to suggest so. Researchers reported finding “an association between having peers diagnosed with a mental disorder during adolescence and an increased risk of receiving a mental disorder diagnosis later in life.” They suggested that, among adolescents, mental health disorders could be “socially transmitted,” though their observational study could not establish any direct cause.
It makes some intuitive sense. Psychologists have studied how moods and emotions can spread from person to person. Someone howling with laughter might be contagious in the sense that it makes you laugh, too. Similarly, seeing a friend in emotional pain can evoke feelings of despair—a phenomenon termed emotional contagion.
