Heart Troubles Often Lead to Depression As many as half of all people hospitalized for surgery or other procedures to treat blocked heart arteries develop depression, according to a report in the June 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association. For some patients, the depression is a new thing; for others, it may have been present beforehand. Even people who were not depressed before developing cardiac problems can develop “situational depression” when faced with a health crisis or major surgery. Additionally, studies have shown that after bypass surgery, microclots can travel to a patient’s brain and cause problems that can include depression. Women may be at higher risk of becoming depressed because they typically are nurturers and get less family support when they are in need of care.		“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” Booker T. Washington