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  • Updated 02.03.2026
  • Released 06.20.1997
  • Expires For CME 02.03.2029

Depression after stroke

Author
James Soh MD PhD
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Editor
Steven R Levine MD
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Cite this article

Introduction

Overview

Post-stroke depression is associated with higher mortality, poorer recovery, more pronounced cognitive deficits, and decreased quality of life compared to those without depression. Depression occurs in approximately 53% of stroke survivors within the first 3 months of diagnosis and a prevalence of 38% within the first year. This condition is likely underdiagnosed and undertreated. Risk factors include female sex, history of psychiatric illness, large or multiple strokes, injuries in frontal/anterior areas or in basal ganglia, recent stroke in the past year, poor social support, and pronounced disability, cognitive impairment, and mortality. Both major depression and minor (dysthymic) depression may occur after a stroke. The etiology of post-stroke depression after a stroke is likely multifactorial and may involve decreased levels of monoamines, abnormal neurotrophic response, increased inflammation in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity. Treatment is usually multi-modal: a combination of pharmacological, psychosocial, and stroke-focused interventions.

Key points

• Up to one third of stroke survivors experience depression during the first year after stroke.

• The cognitive dysfunction associated with depression impairs rehabilitation and burdens caregivers with additional stress.

• A multimodal approach to treating poststroke depression is recommended.

• Well-designed clinical trials are needed to test the best strategies against depression across all stroke survivors.

Historical note and terminology

In 1904 Adolf Meyer reported the possibility of a relationship between traumatic insanities and specific locations and causes of brain injury (89). In 1914 Babinski reported a high prevalence of euphoria, indifference, and denial of illness in patients with right hemisphere lesions (11). Some years later, Bleuler noted that after stroke "melancholic moods lasting for months and sometimes longer appear frequently" (19), and Kraepelin recognized an association between manic-depressive insanity and cerebrovascular disease (71).

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