The discovery of antidepressants meant undoubtedly a revolution in psychiatry. The development of antidepressants has changed the image of psychiatry, brought a progress in the treatment and became a stimulus for investigations of mental illnesses ethiopathogenesis. Nowadays it is becoming evident, that many biologic, psychologic and with high probability also social aspects are common for the depression and for somatic disorders. The more prominent is the association of depression with cardiovascular disease. Neurological disease, mainly the epilepsy, Parkinson disease an stroke represent further common sphere. Historically, association between cancer and depression was identified first. The article presents epidemiological data and analyses possible common mechanisms of somatic disease and depression. In the last part the actual data about the treatment of depression in individual somatic diseases are described.

        Key words: depressive disorder, cardiovascular disease, epilepsy, Parkinson disease, stroke, cancer.