Depression in people with epilepsy in West China: Status, risk factors and treatment gap

There are many comorbidities in people with epilepsy (PWE), with depression being the most frequent comorbidity. The lifetime prevalence for depression is around 10% in the general population [1] but is estimated at 30% in PWE [2]. A bidirectional relationship between depression and epilepsy was described more than 2000 years ago [3]. Depression may lower the seizure threshold [4]. Many recent epidemiological studies have found that the presence of primary depressive disorder was associated with a three to seven fold higher risk of developing epilepsy [5,6].

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