Depression and Women
There are many symptoms related to depression, these symptoms could be as simple as difficulties concentrating, or may be presented as an over-whelming of feelings of worthlessness and even becoming delusions. Women are thought to be more sensitive than men; this could lead to feeling over-whelmed which in turn could lead to suicide. Some emotions such as: not feeling pretty enough or not being skinny enough tend to be magnified. Studies have shown that 12% of U.
S women may suffer from depression while approximately only 6% of men may be diagnosed as depressed. . Cyranowski, J. M. ,&Frank. (2006). Targeting populations of Women for Prevention and Treatment of Depression. In C. M. Mazure,G. Keita (Eds. ) Understanding depression in women. Mental health workers have stated that it’s psychological and that woman should be able to recognize how they are feelings and get help. But the question still remains, what is causing all these women to be depressed. It might be due to heredity, sexual abuse.
There are those that are being harassed or discriminated against. There are doctors who believe that much of the depression in women is hormonal and could be brought on through their menstrual cycle or menopause. Psychologists believe that this depression has roots that can be passed through generations, therefore when something tragic accurse it can cause the depression to resurface. Some scientists believe that the stress factors lean more towards heredity; depression may be a gene that is passed down through generations.
Through investigations it was found that the women who did not have a family history of depression, but did experience stressful events raised their chances of becoming depressed. There was about a 6% chance compared to those whose family had a history of depression, even this only raised their chances to 14%. Scientists have wondered if the gondola steroids estrogen and progesterone produced while a woman is menstruating might be putting women at a higher risk of becoming depressed, therefore showing that some girls may become depressed after puberty when they began to menstruate and their hormones start to fluctuate.
Recent studies have shown that estrogen might play an active part in depression; this could be due to the fact that estrogen triggers body stress responses. Doctors know that the adrenalin glands are controlled by the pituitary gland in the brain which produces higher levels of a hormone called cortisol; this in turn increases the bodies metabolic and immune systems, stress then increases cortisol levels. These cortisol levels gradually will return to normal when the stress has passed.
Although some evidence has shown that structured behavioral marital and family therapies are effective in treatment of depression (Holon, Summit2000). With the right combinations of therapy and drugs depression can be controlled. It’s has been proven in market research that approximately 30% to 35% of individuals who have tried anti-depressant drugs felt no sense of improvement while taking the drugs. Keller, Gelenberge, &Hirschfeld, 1998; Keller et al. , 2000)
Depressed women have been known to have more marital issues, this can sometimes lead to divorce, with this factor already in place depressed women are more likely to get involved with, and marry men with psychiatric disorders. (Hammen,Rudolph,Weiser,Roa,& Burge,1999). Although this is one factor in the cycle of women’s depression there is also another disorder called Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) this disorder is mostly found in women of child rearing ages, however, this disorder is now being found more often in younger patients.
With this newfound information doctors are trying to figure out what effects if any (MDD) has on the children of depressed women. (Collaborative Group, 1992) There has been some research done stating that depression begins in early childhood. This could show us that it may also continue into adulthood, evidence has shown that it may lead to morbidity a higher risk of suicide. Therefore, children of depressed mothers when compared to mothers who do not suffer from depression have greater chance of inheriting a major depressive disorder.
References
- Cyranowski, J. M. , &Frank. (2006). Targeting populations of Women for Prevention and Treatment of Depression. In C. M. Mazure, G. Keita (Eds. )
