Mental disorders are common; studies indicate a lifetime prevalence of 25-50% and a 12 months prevalence of 10-30% (1, 2). It is estimated that all psychosocial stress factors, including depression, might contribute to 33% of all acute myocardial infarctions (3). Most prospective studies support a relatively strong association between depression and subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD), like acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF) (3-9). In our previous study depression symptoms were also associated with reduced left ventricular diastolic function in a population free of CVD (10), a finding which supports the notion of depression as a causal factor for development of future CVD. Further, the accuracy of the Framingham risk equation for CVD is improved by adding depression to the standard model (11). The evidence that anxiety symptoms increase risk of CVD is scarcer, but overall the research suggests those anxiety symptoms, and certain anxiety disorders in particular, represent a risk for future CVD (4, 6, 12, 13). In all our previous studies (5, 6, 10), the increased risk associated with depression symptoms was not explained by confounding by sociodemographic factors, cardiovascular risk factors (e.g. smoking, physical activity, BMI, diabetes, lipid profile) or by common chronic disorders. Poor mental health are associated with substantial excess risk for CVD mortality, a person who is depressed has 30% increased risk of dying after a myocardial infarction compared to a person who is not depressed (14). Thus, it seems that current CVD guidelines (15) are not tailored to reduce CVD risk in persons with poor mental health for persons with poor mental health. In general, causal pathways between mental health and future CVD are poorly understood. It is therefore of utterly clinical importance that this post-doc project starts the search for causal pathways in order target efficient prevention and treatment strategies in order to reduce the observed increased CVD risk associated with mental health. This post-doc project complies with the research Strategy of Helse Midt Norge (HMN) as it is an epidemiological assessment with clinical relevance: identification of causal pathways and novel treatment strategies between CVD and mental health is of utterly clinical importance in order to prevent CVD in these patient groups. Further, the project will help to improve the patient care in the long term as increased knowledge enables prevention strategies that ensure more equality in health outcomes (CVD) to all patient groups.