Researchers claim that knowing you "matter" to someone, along with the emotional support a husband or wife brings, can help shake off depression.
U.S. scientists studied 3,066 adults before and after their first marriage, and measured symptoms of the condition, such as inability to sleep or persistent sadness.
They found that those with depression experienced a sharp decline in the symptoms after being married.
This came as a surprise to the team, who thought that depression might weigh too heavily on relationships.
"We actually found the opposite of what we expected," researcher Adrianne Frech told the American Sociological Association's annual meeting in Montreal recently.
"Just mattering to someone else can help alleviate symptoms of depression."
The coauthor of the study, Kristi Williams, added, "Depressed people may be just especially in need of the intimacy, the emotional closeness and the social support that marriage can provide." Spouses of depressed people, however, were often worse off after the wedding and ended up plagued by distance or conflict.
"People who are not depressed are at risk," said Miss Frech. "If they marry a depressed person, this could be a bad deal for them." The findings follow a study last week which showed getting married can add years to your life.
Scientists at the University of California found that those who have solid marriages have longer lives than those who never tie the knot or are widowed, separated or divorced.
Source: Daily Mail; London (UK). Powered by Yellowbrix.
