Several autoimmune diseases mimic depression by causing neuropsychiatric symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and mood swings, with prominent examples including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders (like Graves' Disease/Hypothyroidism), and especially Autoimmune Encephalitis, which directly targets brain proteins and causes severe mood changes, often resistant to typical antidepressants. Conditions like Celiac Disease, Lyme Disease, and even Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) can also present with depression-like symptoms, highlighting the need to rule out underlying autoimmune issues when depression symptoms arise.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is another autoimmune disease known to have neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, cognitive dysfunction, and psychosis with a prevalence of 21–95% of patients.
Here are four conditions commonly mistaken for depression, both by clinicians and the public:
Diagnosing an autoimmune disease is often a differential diagnosis. This means your provider will test you for several different conditions that can cause the symptoms you're experiencing until they find the cause. Your provider might order blood tests to look for specific signs (markers) of autoimmune diseases.
The ENA test can help your health care team and your rheumatologist diagnose autoimmune diseases such as:
Although flare-ups may clear on their own, medications such as corticosteroids and immunosuppressants are needed in more severe cases. Physical therapy may be recommended to regain strength. Minocycline, a tetracycline antibiotic, has shown promise for treating RRMS (12).
Here are 10 things that are often mistaken for depression, starting with one we see all the time in trauma work.
Considering that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is characterized mainly by poor sleep, memory loss, lack of concentration and extreme lack of energy, it's easy to see why CFS is so easily confused for depression.
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease causes chemical changes in the brain, such as the loss of dopamine neurons, that lead to a loss of motivation, engagement and interest, Alpert says. “That overlaps very much with what we see in depression,” he says.
Living with an autoimmune disease is linked to a near doubling in the risk of persistent mental health issues, such as depression, generalised anxiety, and bipolar disorder, with these risks higher in women than in men, finds a large population-based UK study, published in the open access journal BMJ Mental Health.
25% of lupus patients experience major depression and 37% have major anxiety, research shows.
Chronic inflammation – Emotional stress—especially unresolved anger—triggers inflammatory responses. This persistent state of inflammation is a key factor in autoimmune diseases.
Common symptoms of autoimmune disease include:
The top 5 worst autoimmune diseases are giant cell myocarditis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes. These diseases can cause a lot of harm and even death if not managed well.
Lupus causes swelling and irritation, called inflammation, that may affect joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs. Lupus can be hard to diagnose because its symptoms often are like those of other illnesses. A common sign of lupus is a facial rash that looks like butterfly wings across both cheeks.
Sjogren's syndrome primarily impacts the moisture-producing glands in the body, while lupus patients experience more photosensitivity and involvement in several areas of the body at a time.
This kind of fatigue makes you feel that you are climbing a steep hill when you are really walking on level ground. It may resolve once the underlying organic condition is diagnosed and treated. Thyroid problems and anemia are both common among Sjögren's patients, but many other kinds of fatigue may be superimposed.
Profound and debilitating fatigue is the most common complaint reported among individuals with autoimmune disease, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis.