Mental Health Matters

Are Introversion and Depression Linked?

Generally speaking, introverted people:

prefer quiet time alone over socializing with a group

spend more time listening to others than sharing personal thoughts

keep to the fringes of the crowd in social settings

turn to creative or reflective pursuits to relax and recharge

Since people increasingly recognize a tendency to withdraw from others as a common sign of depression, someone who doesn’t know you well might assume these traits mean you have depression, or perhaps social anxiety.

Well-meaning loved ones might even encourage you to reach out to a professional who can help you “overcome your shyness” or “get better at socializing.”

Some research seems to suggest a possible connection between introversion and depression (more on this later).

Contrary to what some people might suggest, though, this link doesn’t mean you should try to change who you are. Introversion is a personality trait, not something you need to fix or improve.

Are introverts more likely to have depression?

A few studies have found support for some connection between introversion and depression.

Introversion as a contributing factor

Research from 2001Trusted Source suggests introversion may play a part in the development of depression in the presence of other factors, including:

greater sensitivity to feelings and emotions

neuroticism, a personality trait linked to a tendency toward negative or distressing feelings

Depression’s potential impact on extroversion

On the flip side, other research suggests that depression might make people more introverted.

Research from 2012 explored how anxiety and depression might change personality over time. The study authors compared baseline personality traits to those at a follow-up 2 years later. They found that major depression or dysthymia (chronic depression) seemed to lead to higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness and extroversion.

Recovering from depression was associated with higher conscientiousness and extroversion, as well as lower neuroticism.

After recovery, extroversion and conscientiousness still tended to show up at lower levels (and neuroticism at higher levels) than they did in participants who had never reported depression.

Introversion and suicidal thoughts

Research from 2017Trusted Source compared 365 people with bipolar disorder and 296 people with major depression to a control group of 315 people.

Findings suggest that people with lower extroversion, particularly those who also had higher levels of neuroticism, had a higher risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

Introversion, depression, and other mental health conditions

A 2009 studyTrusted Source suggests people with major depression and lower levels of extroversion are more likely to also have social anxiety or a cluster C personality disorder, like: