**12. Conclusion**

Depression and stroke have a bidirectional relationship where one acts as a risk for the other. Poststroke depression is an area of study that has evolved over the years. New studies on its etiology have been discovered, and continued research efforts are providing more insight on the questions we still have, such as the associations of lesion location, the role of inflammation, neuroplasticity, and even genetics. Some patients are more at risk than others for developing poststroke depression, but the main goal is detection, management, and rehabilitation. Detecting poststroke depression is important, so treatment can be initiated as soon as possible, thus reducing morbidity, mortality, and assisting these patients with participating in rehabilitation efforts. Rehabilitation not only improves function in these patients, but also has beneficial effects on depression as well. If patients can effectively partake in rehabilitation efforts, their quality of life scores have been shown to improve (with quality of life being a measure for depression in these patients). Improvements in perceived quality of life can have downstream effects resulting in a reduction of readmissions to the hospital, and outpatient visits, and thus a reduction in the healthcare burden caused by this disease process. If depression can be effectively managed, patients will be more likely to have meaningful participation in poststroke rehabilitation, and reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality associated with their stroke.
