Women are twice as likely to experience major depression than men. They are also up to three times more apt to suffer from anxiety disorders or to attempt suicide. The reasons for these gender differences are not clear, and some believe such statistics are exaggerated because females are more “sensitive” and therefore more likely to report such symptoms.
1. Hormonal differences are usually cited as the major explanation. Compared to men, women experience much more fluctuation in hormone levels that are associated with symptoms of depression. In addition to premenstrual dysphoric disorder, up to 15% experience postpartum depression. Depression is so common during the menopause, that involutional melancholia was an established psychiatric diagnosis up until 1980. Women are also more apt to suffer from hypothyroidism, which is often associated with depression.
2. Women have a stronger genetic predisposition for depression than men based on identical and fraternal twin studies, as well as documented and detailed family history records.
3. Women tend to be more involved in personal relationships than men and suffer more when they are disrupted. More married women and housewives have increasingly entered the workforce and find it difficult to juggle job and family responsibilities, such as caring for an elderly relative. Women between the ages of 25 and 40 were three to four times more likely to become depressed than men.
4. Women live longer than men and extreme old age is often associated with bereavement, loneliness, poor physical health, and other factors that predispose to depression.
5. Women are more likely than men to consult a physician if they do not feel well or have symptoms of depression, and are therefore more likely to be diagnosed. There is also some evidence that both male as well as female physicians are more apt to make a diagnosis of depression in women than men with identical complaints.
1. Hormonal differences are usually cited as the major explanation. Compared to men, women experience much more fluctuation in hormone levels that are associated with symptoms of depression. In addition to premenstrual dysphoric disorder, up to 15% experience postpartum depression. Depression is so common during the menopause, that involutional melancholia was an established psychiatric diagnosis up until 1980. Women are also more apt to suffer from hypothyroidism, which is often associated with depression.
2. Women have a stronger genetic predisposition for depression than men based on identical and fraternal twin studies, as well as documented and detailed family history records.
3. Women tend to be more involved in personal relationships than men and suffer more when they are disrupted. More married women and housewives have increasingly entered the workforce and find it difficult to juggle job and family responsibilities, such as caring for an elderly relative. Women between the ages of 25 and 40 were three to four times more likely to become depressed than men.
4. Women live longer than men and extreme old age is often associated with bereavement, loneliness, poor physical health, and other factors that predispose to depression.
5. Women are more likely than men to consult a physician if they do not feel well or have symptoms of depression, and are therefore more likely to be diagnosed. There is also some evidence that both male as well as female physicians are more apt to make a diagnosis of depression in women than men with identical complaints.
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