Depression causes chocolate cravings

Published: 8:33PM Monday October 01, 2007 Source: AAP

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Almost half of people who suffer depression experience chocolate cravings, a new Australian study has found, and most reported that it improved their mood.
  
The study, published in the latest edition of the prestigious British Journal of Psychiatry, also found cravings more common among people whose symptoms of depression included feeling irritable and being scared of social rejection.
  
About 54% of people reported food cravings when depressed, and 45% specifically nominated chocolate - including 51% of women and 31% of men.
  
Only 10% of food cravers nominated foods apart from chocolate.
  
About 61% of chocolate cravers said it could improve their mood, in particular by making them less anxious and irritable.
  
The researchers quizzed 2,692 Australian adults who had suffered a depressive episode of more than two weeks that required treatment.
  
The participants completed a survey on the website of depression awareness group, the Black Dog Institute.
  
"Our most intriguing finding was the specificity of the links between chocolate craving and personality styles," authors Gordon Parker and Joanna Crawford from the University of New South Wales' psychiatry school and the Black Dog Institute said.
  
Statistical analysis found people who experienced irritability and a fear of social rejection were more likely to have chocolate cravings.
  
The findings were "consistent with these individuals judging chocolate as reducing anxiety and irritability", the authors found.

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