Cardiovascular changes during acute depression

To evaluate the effect of depressed mood on cardio vascular response, we studied 43 office psychotherapy patients. Eleven of these patients manifested acute depression, 18 had overt anxiety, and 14 showed anger. We found that the heart rate and blood pressure increased, and electrocardiographic changes occurred more frequently in depressed patients, in a degree comparable to the changes seen in patients with anxiety or anger. These findings are consistent with other reports indicating in creased sympathoadrenal activity in other organ systems during depression and suggest that the treatment of depression must in clude attention to the patient's physical arousal state as well as to his mental status.