Your depressed better-half can make you sad too!

Zee Media Bureau

It is a well-known fact that negative energy can be absorbed easily, even if those emitting the negativity are our loved ones.

It affects the vibrations around us, eventually affecting us as well.

A new research has unveiled that those married to a frail spouse are likely to acquire the same trait and people married to depressed spouses can make them sad as well.

This is because, as per the research, frailty and depression is connected within couples.

These signs of frailty and depression are mostly found in older couples around the age of 65 years and older. They have shown to cause disability, falls, hospitalisation and a shorter lifespan.

Secondly, it was also found that the frailer an older person is, their chances of becoming depressed become higher and vice versa.

The research was based on a study of data from 1,260 married couples, aged 65 and older, collected during the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Interestingly, older husbands tended to be more depressed and frail than younger husbands. Older wives were not more depressed, but were frailer than younger wives.

Generally, people are considered frail if they have three or more of these conditions: Low body weight (unintentional loss of 10 pounds in the past year), weakness, exhaustion, slowness and physical inactivity.

Frailty and depression symptoms may be intertwined for spouses, suggesting that senior living facilities might consider ways to increase couples' engagement in physical activities, social activities and mutual support, the researchers suggested.

(With IANS inputs)