Long-term depression following stressful life events: feeling ‘worthless’ shows the slowest recovery

Abstract

This paper uses a UK panel study dataset, to investigate effects of stressful ‘life events’ on mental health. Various events – including poverty, unemployment, and illness – increase the risk of depression. There may be delayed effects of a stressful event: many people experience a slow recovery from depression. This paper reports evidence that in ‘General Health Questionnaire’ GHQ-12, feeling ‘worthless’ shows the slowest recovery after a harmful event: up to about nine years. Evidence in this paper is reported as charts, showing gradual recovery from traumatic events; and regression analysis. These charts are broadly consistent with regression results. Keywords: Depression; life events; slow recovery; GHQ-12; worthlessness