Deppression and gender

Depression and gender: Who is affected more?
Depression is not "one size fits all," particularly when it comes to the gender. Not only are women more prone to depression than men, but the causes of female depression and even the pattern of symptoms are often different.
Many factors contribute to the unique picture of depression in women-from reproductive hormones to social pressures to the female response to stress.
Depression is a serious condition that can impact every area of your life. It can affect your social life, your family relationships, your career, and your sense of self-worth and purpose. And for women in particular, depression is common.
If you constantly feel sad, guilty, tired, and just generally “down in the dumps,” you may be suffering from major depression. But the good news is that depression is treatable, and the more you understand about its particular implications (and impact on women), the more equipped you would be to tackle the condition head.
Symptoms of depression in women are the same as those for major depression. Common complaints include: depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy, guilt feelings, hopelessness and worthlessness. Other symptoms are suicidal thoughts or recurrent thoughts of death, sleep disturbances (sleeping more or sleeping less), appetite and weight changes, difficulty concentrating and lack of energy and fatigue.
Although the signs and symptoms of depression are the same for both men and women, women tend to experience certain symptoms more often than men. For example, seasonal affective disorder—depression in the winter months due to lower levels of sunlight, which is common in women. Women are also more likely to experience the symptoms of atypical depression.
In atypical depression, rather than sleeping less, eating less, and losing weight, the opposite is seen: sleeping excessively, eating more (especially carbohydrates), and gaining weight. Feelings of guilt associated with depression are also more prevalent and pronounced in women.
What causes depression in women? Women are about twice as likely as men to suffer from depression. This two-to-one difference persists across racial, ethnic, and economic divides. There are a number of thoughts that attempt to explain the higher incidences of depression in women. Many factors that have been implicated include biological, psychological, and social factors.
Among biological factors, premenstrual problems are the common cited. Hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle are implicated to cause the familiar symptoms of premenstrual syndromes, such as bloating, irritability, fatigue, and emotional reactivity. For many women, premenstrual syndrome is mild. But for some women, the symptoms are severe enough to disrupt their lives.
Pregnancy and infertility is another biological factor that put at more risk of depression than men. The many hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy can contribute to depression, particularly in women already at high risk. Other issues relating to pregnancy such as miscarriage, unwanted pregnancy, and infertility can also play a role in depression.
The other factor is postpartum depression, which is as a result of the “baby blues” new mothers experience. This is a normal reaction that tends to subside within a few weeks. However, some women experience severe, lasting depression. This condition is known as postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is influenced, at least in part, by hormonal fluctuations.
Perimenopause and menopause also put women at increased risk of depression during the stage leading to menopause when reproductive hormones rapidly fluctuate. Women with past histories of depression are at an increased risk of depression during menopause as well.
On the social and cultural front, women with overwhelming responsibilities in their life and come from homes that are hotbeds of hostility often suffer from depression. This type of depression is known as role strain.
The more roles a woman is expected to play (mother, wife, working woman), the more vulnerable she is to role strain and subsequent stress and depression. Depression is more common in women who receive little help with housework and child care. Single mothers are particularly at risk. As Melinda Smith puts it, single mothers are three times more likely than married mothers to experience an episode of major depression.
The other socio-cultural factor that causes more depression in women is unequal power and status. Women’s relative lack of power and status in society may lead to feelings of helplessness. This sense of helplessness puts women at greater risk for depression. These feelings may be provoked by discrimination in the workplace leading to underemployment or unemployment. Low socioeconomic status is a risk factor for major depression.
Sexual and physical abuse can also play a role in depression in women. Girls are much more likely to be sexually abused than boys, and Melinda Smith and team have found that sexual abuse in childhood puts one at increased risk for depression in adulthood. Higher rates of depression are also found among victims of rape.
A dissatisfactory relationship is another social cause of depression. While rates of depression are lower for the married than for the single and divorced, the benefits of marriage and its general contribution to well-being are greater for men than for women. Furthermore, the benefits disappear entirely for women whose marital satisfaction is low. Lack of intimacy and marital strife are highly linked to depression in women.
Poverty, which is more pronounced among women than men, is also a causal factor of depression. Single mothers have the highest rates of poverty across all demographic groups hence more stressed.
Psychologically, coping mechanisms to problems is one of the causal factors of depression. Women are more likely to ruminate when they are depressed. Some women ruminate by crying. Rumination prolongs depression and even makes it worse at times.
According to Psychology Today, women produce more stress hormones than men do, and the female sex hormone progesterone prevents the stress hormone system from turning itself off as it does in men. This makes women more risky to depression than men. It also determines their response to the phenomena.
In this era where beauty and appearance is taking the world, body image widens the depression gap between men and women. It often begins in adolescence. Body image is closely linked to self-esteem in women, and low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression.
Is experiencing depression the end of life? No. Depression is treatable. For the most part, women suffering from depression receive the same types of treatment as everyone else. The main treatment approaches are psychotherapy and antidepressant therapy. However, there are some special treatment considerations for depression in women. Mood-related depression can be treated by birth control medication or hormone replacement therapy. The history of the patient is thus important in the medication process.
However, because of the special role that interpersonal issues and role strain plays in female depression, psychotherapy should address them directly. Interpersonal therapy and cognitive-behavior therapy are both effective in teaching new problem solving skills, improving interpersonal relationships, and reducing negative thinking and ineffective coping techniques.