What is the true nature of the relationship between metabolic disturbance, specifically of glucose and insulin metabolism, and depressive and other mood disorders?

Abstract

Much attention in recent years has focused on the extent to which the risk of metabolic disturbances, and most fundamentally of glucose and insulin, are prevalent among those treated for depressive and other mood disorders (Osimo et al., 2021; Scott et al., 2019; Tickell et al., 2022). Public concern has also focused on the increased rates of premature mortality in those with chronic depression and other major mental disorders, with a significant proportion of that risk being due to early-onset cardiovascular disease (particularly among women). A common assumption is that much of this risk is a consequence of medical treatments for depression, and their possible adverse effects such as increased risk of diabetes, presumably mediated by long-term weight gain.