Psychiatric Problems in Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Depression and Anxiety

Abstract

Depression, anxiety and tuberculosis are common conditions with significant public health implications. The connection among these conditions is syndemic: the incidence of one increases the chance of developing the other, with clusters of biological, social and psychological interaction. Therefore, it has become crucial to understand better the mechanisms liable for the physiological process related to these three conditions. The present review focuses specifically on shared social events (perception of illness severity, social stigma, poverty and social isolation) and biological pathways (central response of the immune system within the CNS, the activation of the HPA axis and the SNS) that may mechanistically elucidate the depression-anxiety-tuberculosis association and discuss interventions prospects and significant issues to be arranged by future clinical and research implications.