AbstractIn today’s fast paced life and its associated stress & strain, depression has become common in not only elderly but in young working adults as well. According to WHO, depression affects around 121 million people worldwide. Numerous studies carried out in India as well as abroad have found that the relative risk of developing Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) increases 2 fold in cases of depression.Various workers in the past have tried to assess autonomic dysfunction in cases of depression using Heart rate Variability(HRV)analysis.A few studies show low HRV in cases of depression. While, some studies have shown that there is no distinct relationship between HRV and depression. A few studies have also questioned the reliability of HRV as a measure of autonomic activity. Also, most of the studies have been done on study population > 45 years of age and similar evidence in younger population is grossly lacking. Most of the investigators have studied only the cases of major depression leaving out other types of depression episodes. Therefore, the exact relationship between depression and cardiac autonomic functions in young patients of depression is still obscure.