European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: Diabetes is a chronic disease with life altering consequences. It not only forces one to question and alter one’s life style but also thrusts the added responsibility of self-care upon them. Patients are required to maintain controlled levels of glycalated hemoglobin (HbA1c). But up to 50 percent fail to do so and land up with a wide array of complications. One among these many complications is the psychiatric co-morbidity of depression. Materials and Methods: The present study is a cross sectional study conducted at Department of Psychiatry, Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shimoga, Karnataka from the period of February 2022 to October 2022. The study population was determined to be 120 in number. Participants who were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus under American Diabetic association criteria were randomly selected from outpatient department of General medicine and referred to  Department of Psychiatry, Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shimoga. Results: 75% of the study population had history of diabetes mellitus for more than 5 years of duration. More than half of the study population did not have any substance use (56.7%), however use of nicotine (13%) or alcohol (11%) or both (2%) were found in 43.3% of the population in total. Systemic hypertension was found to be the most common medical co-morbidity accounting to 88.3% of the study participants. More than 60% of the study population did not have any family history of depression. 31.7% of the study population expressed worthlessness (21.7%), death wishes and suicidal thoughts (8.3%) or attempts (1.7%). Conclusion: Early screening and appropriate intervention may lead to improvement in both mental and physical wellness along with prevention of suicides in these patients. Prevalence of depressive disorders among diabetes mellitus patients is increasing in number and severity. We would like to stress upon the need for screening depression among all patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus to ensure early detection, diagnosis, management, and suicide prevention.