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Mental Health and Biomarkers Andrew Oswald IZA and Warwick. Now let’s broaden the idea of human well-being (beyond ‘happiness’). We’ll discuss biomarkers. We’ll discuss biomarkers. Heart rate Systolic blood pressure Diastolic blood pressure C-reactive protein Fibrinogen.
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Mental Health and Biomarkers Andrew Oswald IZA and Warwick
Now let’s broaden the idea of human well-being (beyond ‘happiness’).
We’ll discuss biomarkers Heart rate Systolic blood pressure Diastolic blood pressure C-reactive protein Fibrinogen
I will say almost nothing about really serious mental illness.
I will say almost nothing about really serious mental illness. Psychosis occurs in about 1% of the population.
Instead we can think of mental ill-health (depression, anxiety, and mental strain).
Happiness and life-satisfaction equations typically have similar structures to mental-health equations.
A psychological-ill-health measure used a lot in the psychiatry literature is a GHQ score (which stands for General Health Questionnaire).
Typical GHQ mental-strain questions Have you: Lost much sleep over worry?
Typical GHQ mental-strain questions Have you: Lost much sleep over worry? Felt constantly under strain?
Typical GHQ mental-strain questions Have you: Lost much sleep over worry? Felt constantly under strain? Felt you could not overcome your difficulties?
Typical GHQ mental-strain questions Have you: Lost much sleep over worry? Felt constantly under strain? Felt you could not overcome your difficulties? Been feeling unhappy and depressed?
It was developed as a way to judge who needs psychiatric treatment.
The exact 12 questions that make up a GHQ score “Have you lost much sleep over worry?”; “Been able to concentrate on things?”; “Felt you are playing a useful part in things?”; “Felt capable of making decisions about things?”; “Felt constantly under strain?”; “Felt you could not overcome your difficulties?”;
“Been able to enjoy your normal day-to-day activities”; “Been able to face up to your problems”; “Been feeling unhappy and depressed?”; “Been losing confidence in yourself?”; “Been thinking of yourself as a worthless person?”; “Been feeling reasonably happy all things considered?”.
On a 36-point scale Mean of GHQ 10.4975 Standard deviation 4.89
This holds in various settings For example, we see the same age pattern in mental health among a recent sample of 800,000 UK citizens: [Blanchflower and Oswald, Social Science & Medicine, 2008]
The probability of depression by age Males, LFS data set 2004-2006 0.02 0.015 0.01 Regression coefficient 0.005 0 -0.005 -0.01 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 Year of birth
Depression by age among females: LFS data 2004-2006Q2 0.002 0 -0.002 -0.004 Regression coefficient -0.006 -0.008 -0.01 -0.012 -0.014 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 Year of birth
An important border is between happiness and medicine • Is it possible that we could find physiological correlates with human well-being? • Perhaps to broaden the standard policy goal of GDP?
We are studying mental well-being and physiological data on a random sample of 100,000 English citizens.
We are interested in equations for Heart rate Systolic blood pressure Diastolic blood pressure C-reactive protein Fibrinogen
Systolic pressure is the force of blood in the arteries as the heart beats. It is shown as the top number in a blood pressure reading. High blood pressure is 140 and higher for systolic pressure.
Diastolic pressure is the force of blood in the arteries as the heart relaxes between beats. It's shown as the bottom number in a blood pressure reading.
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein found in the blood, the levels of which rise in response to inflammation (i.e. C-reactive protein is an acute-phase protein). It is synthesized in the liver.
Fibrinogen is a protein that plays a key role in blood clotting. Fibrinogen is a sticky, fibrous coagulant in the blood that increases the risk of experiencing one of the leading causes of death and disability - stroke.
