Damp, Mold, and Mental Health

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

05 Dec 2007 04:22 PM

A recent study from the Brown University School of Medicine looked at a possible link between damp, moldy homes and emotional problems like depression.

Researchers looked at living conditions and health conditions in several cities around Europe, including Bonn, Germany, Budapest, Hungary, and Geneva Switzerland. Their data came from World Health Organization surveys performed in 2002 and 2003. Nearly six thousand men and women from households around Europe were asked about their health, including any diagnosis of depression in the last year. Participants were chosen at random, divided equally between men and women, and ranged in age from 18 to 104.

Survey participants were asked about symptoms of depression, including problems sleeping, low self esteem, poor appetite, and decreased interest in activities. Residents were asked about their living conditions, and researchers inspected the levels of dampness and mold in each home. Light, ventilation, home size, crowding, and heating conditions were also noted.

On average, more than half of all the participants lived in homes that were free of dampness and mold -- though that depended largely on region. Nine percent of people surveyed were determined to be suffering from depression. Women, the elderly, the unemployed, and people living in crowded conditions were at higher risk for depression. However, researchers also noted that mold in the home changed the risk. The risk of depression was forty percent higher in people who lived in moldy homes than in people who did not.

The study authors noted that it's too early to determine whether or not mold exposure is directly related to depression. Preliminary evidence suggests that the two may be linked. But which came first? The mold or the depression? Did the depression lead to a lackluster approach to house cleaning? Or did the mold aggravate an emotional state?

If you do see or smell mold in your house -- get rid of it! Mold can wreak havoc with allergies and asthma and people with compromised immune systems.

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