If you're someone who tends to reach for the creamy goodness of chocolate when you're feeling blue, you're not alone.

According to a new study, people who feel depressed eat about 55 per cent more chocolate than non-depressed people. And the more depressed people feel, the more chocolate they tend to eat -- which may suggest that chocolate really does nothing to improve mood.

For the study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers at University of California San Diego and University of California Davis examined dietary patterns among 931 men and women. The participants were also given a depression screening test.

Those who screened positive for possible depression ate an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate per month (A serving was defined as one ounce of chocolate). That compared with 5.4 servings per month among people who were not depressed.

Those whose depression scores were even higher – meaning that they probably were suffering from major depression -- consumed even more chocolate: 11.8 servings per month.

The findings were similar among women and men.

The researchers say it's not clear how chocolate and depression are linked but they say there are a few possibilities.

"First, depression could stimulate chocolate cravings as ‘self-treatment' if chocolate confers mood benefits," they write. Some recent studies on rats have suggested just that, they note.

Or, it could be that depression may stimulate chocolate cravings for unrelated reasons. For example, stress might drive both depression and chocolate cravings, and the cravings continue even though chocolate does little to lift depression.

It's also possible that chocolate should lift mood, but the effects may be counteracted by other ingredients often found in chocolate products, including artificial trans fats that inhibit omega-3 fatty acid production.

Another possibility – and one that surely no chocolate lover wants to even consider -- is that chocolate could actually contribute to depression.

"Future studies are required to elucidate the foundation of the association and to determine whether chocolate has a role in depression, as cause or cure," the authors conclude.