One Out of Every Two PTSD Sufferer Also has Symptoms of Depression

According to a new study, one out of every two people diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder also suffers from depression.

The study was conducted by researchers from Case Western Reserve University, who found that men and women who suffer from PTSD have higher chances of suffering from depression too.

Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a type of anxiety that affects a person after he or she has experienced a traumatic event that involved threat of injury or death. About 3.5 percent of the U.S. adult population suffers from PTSD.

The study review included 57 peer-reviewed studies that had a total of 6,670 people diagnosed with PTSD. Researchers found that about 52 percent of these people also had symptoms of depression.

"If individuals do not get a comprehensive assessment of what's bothering them, one or the other can be missed. This high co-occurrence rate accentuates the importance of routinely assessing for both disorders," said Nina Rytwinski Case, research associate from Western Reserve and the study's lead investigator, according to a news release.

Importantly, the study found that having two conditions - depression along with PTSD - was equally common in men and women. Previously, it was thought that mostly women suffered from depression.

"The biases against men with PTSD symptoms put them at risk for under diagnosis and under treatment of a major depressive disorder," she said.

The study review, "The co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder: A meta-analysis", is published in The Journal of Traumatic Stress and can be read here.