A look at antidepressant use—and cardiovascular risk

Abstract

The World Health Organization predicts that depression will be the leading global cause of disability by 2030 ( BBC, 2009 ); ischaemic heart disease is now the leading cause of death worldwide ( World Health Organization, 2017 ). Depression and heart disease are certainly major causes of morbidity and mortality—but are rarely considered together, instead being considered as separate psychiatric and physiological conditions. In this comment for World Mental Health Day 2017, Helen Cowan examines the potential link between psychiatry, physiology, and pharmacology.