Introduction: The incidence of depression in coronary artery disease (CAD) is higher than in the general population. The factor is associated with depression is learned helplessness. Helplessness is one of the domains of illness cognition, which is someone’s preoccupation with unpleasant side effects of chronic disease related to daily functioning. Aim of this study was to determine the correlation between helplessness of illness cognition and symptoms of depression in CAD at Hasan Sadikin Hospital (RSHS), Bandung from November to December 2020. Method: The research method is a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design on CAD patients, male, and aged 55 years and over. Illness Cognition Questionnaire (ICQ) was used to assess illness cognition and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Results: This study involved 86 participants with a mean age of 62.4 ± 5.53 years, an average length of treatment of 3.4 ± 3.45 years, and 34 people (39.5%) had depressive symptoms. Of the 34 people who had depressive symptoms there were 4 persons (4.65%) with moderate depressive episodes and 1 person (1.16%) with major depressive episodes. The bivariate analysis using the rank Spearman correlation coefficient found that helplessness (r=0.337, p=0.001) had a significant relationship with depressive symptoms; whereas acceptance and perceived of benefit had no significant relationship with depression (r=-0.125, p=0.126,) and (r=0.035, p=0.374) respectively. Conclusion: This study concludes that depressive symptoms have a significant correlation with helplessness of illness cognition in CAD patient and there is a role of physician and cardiologist to help patients with these problems.