Breastfeeding may protect children from depression later in life

Researchers have discovered another benefit of breastfeeding. Babies raised on mother's milk are much less likely to experience depression in adulthood.

If you were breastfed as an infant, you are less likely to suffer from depression as an adult. This conclusion was reached by German researchers who studied the health of 52 people with an average age of 52 years who were treated for severe depression in a hospital setting. The study was published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

The category of those who received breastfeeding included those patients whose mothers breastfed for at least two weeks. Information from these patients was then compared with 106 people who did not have mental illness. It turned out that 73% of healthy people who had never experienced depression were breastfed in childhood. Among those who became victims of depression, 46% were breastfed.

Despite such convincing data, scientists believe that they have not found a cause-and-effect relationship between breastfeeding, or lack thereof, and depression. Most likely, other factors come into play here. Thus, breastfeeding mothers turn out to be more caring; they surround their children with more love, which is very important for the development of a child’s normal psyche.

Additionally, breastfeeding may be associated with increased levels of the hormone oxytocin, which protects babies from stress. Finally, breast milk may theoretically contain components that prevent the development of depression. In addition, breastfeeding protects against diseases such as hypertension, which increase the risk of developing depression.

Source: medicforum.ru