44 genes linked to depression

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5660763/Scientists-discover-44-depression-genes-study-suggests.html
Quoting:

* An international analysis of DNA from nearly 500,000 people revealed new genetic variations that raise depression risks
* The new study identified three-fold as many depression genes as previously known
* The findings suggest all human beings are on a 'spectrum' of vulnerability to depression
* Current antidepressants do target some of the genetic roots of the disorder
* But that is just by chance, and the newly-discovered genes may lead to more precisely targeted therapies

Scientists have uncovered 44 genetic risk factors for depression - tripling the number of previously identified DNA links to the disorder. In a global push to unravel the leading cause of disability in the US, 200 researchers from the UK, US and Australia found that all humans carry genetic risks for depression.

The investigation also found that existing antidepressants do in fact target some of the right genetic variants - though quite by accident. Discovering so many new genes common to everyone represents a breakthrough for the development of new, more targeted therapies for depression . . .

Dr Sullivan says that the discovery 'provides important proof that most of us carry genes that are risk factors for depression, so the idea that some people with depression are somehow different from us is completely incorrect.'

The researchers evaluated the DNA of 135,000 people with depression and another 344,000 controls who do not suffer from the condition. They found that, genetically, everyone is on a 'spectrum' of depression risks, says Dr Sullivan. He says that we all likely inherit some depression risk factors, but depending on where we fall on that spectrum and what happens to us throughout our lives, we may or may not develop depression. But 'every human being can be fit into that spectrum,' he adds.

It is worth noting, as Dr Sen does that even though the study was very large, it was based only on 'Europeans and European-American subjects. It is important to try to replicate this work and do it in a broader set of ethnic populations,' including African and Chinese people, Dr Sen says.

According to Dr Sen, the new research makes it possible to assign 'a genetic risk score by looking across the whole genome to calculate overall risks for depression and that can be applied in a way that hasn't been seen before.'

It is is natural human emotion to feel sadness.  I sometimes think that stoic people, the folks that do not let adverse life events  bother them as some how cold hearted.  

On the other end of the spectrum, are the people that are unable to cope with the ups and downs of life.  The world is colored through dark glasses, they are unable to see beyond the sadness.  Constant worry and over thinking things will lead to stress, the body reacts to stress by flooding the brain with cortisol,adrenaline.  Chronic untreated depression and exposure to these stress hormones can cause atrophy of the hippocampus.....brain damage

Having a genetic predisposition towards depression will surely increase your chances of experiencing it , but it is not an absolute.
Depression is not caused by trauma but rather by how we respond to it.
Therapy,medication,learned coping skills can help people pull themselves out of the abyss.

I do believe that depression can be contagious, the same as happiness and laughter are.

Maybe the different genes cause different types of depression - some types which respond to drugs and/or psychotherapy and some which do not.

The advances that have been made over the last decade in personalized medicine are truly amazing.
Medications are targeted, more effective with less side effects.

I see a more patients with severe,medication resistant depression, mania /suicide risk being treated with electoconvulsive therapy. It sound scary but it is very fast effective and safe.