According to Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, depression is a mental disorder characterized by feelings of worthlessness, guilt, sadness, helplessness, and hopelessness. Some of the symptoms that are accompanied by depression include lack of appetite, excessive hunger, weight gain, weight loss, and lack of concentration. If depression is present in someone, they can also experience anxiety. Several medical diagnosis’s can characterize depression such as HIV, Aids, Diabetes, and Eating Disorders. Depression is a serious illness that is often not taken serious enough.
Depression is the commonest psychiatric diagnoses in patients attending psychiatric clinics, psychiatric outpatient departments or mental health facilities. The lifetime prevalence of unipolar depression is about 15 percent in males and 25 percent in females in the first world countries with similar prevalance in the developing countries. According to the WHO, about one in four consultations to health care providers is depression related. The twelve month prevalence in the US is about 7 percent with maximum prevalence in the 18-29 year old individuals with females having a 1.5 to 3 fold higher rate than males (23)
Depression is not just a woman’s illness but according to the National Institute of Mental Health women are diagnosed with depression twice as often as men. Twenty percent of women will have major depression in their lifetime.
Depression is the most common mental health disorder; it affects over 17 million American adults each year. Depression is a mood disorder characterized by at least four symptoms such as changes in sleep, appetite, weight, and psychomotor activity; decreased energy, feelings of worthlessness or guilt; difficulty thinking, concentrating, or making decisions; or recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation, thoughts or attempts. “Women are approximately two times more likely than men to suffer from major depression” (Research Agenda for Psychosocial and Behavioral Factors in Women’s Health, 1996) and it has been called the most significant mental health risk for women. Women are more likely to suffer from depression during marriage
Women experience depression at twice the rate of men. Gender differences emerge first at puberty and occur mainly in the common mental disorders such as depression, anxiety among others. These disorders, in which women predominate, affect approximately 1 in 3 people. The frequency of major depression in adults is estimated to be 7 to 12 percent in men and 20 to 25 percent in women in a community and this constitutes a serious public health problem (NIMH, 2006). Several and variable factors in women contribute to depression, such as genetic, hormonal, developmental, reproductive, and other biological differences like premenstrual syndrome, childbirth, infertility and menopause. Factors associated to social issues may lead to depression
The female population makes up the other half of the entire human race, how depression affects them should not be glazed over. He touches on the topic very briefly, and makes valid points but not enough to capture all of the knowledge. “And urban North American women, the most affluent demographic of the study, were the most likely to experience depression” (Junger, 20). While he does touch on the topic, this is one of the few quotes that focuses on women and depression in North America, not even regarding that this applies to women in most societies as well. Kastrup wrote an article called Cultural Aspects of Depression: “It is well documented that women run a greater risk in most cultures: overall, women have a 1.5-2 times greater risk of suffering from depression compared with men. In the Cross-National Collaborative Group, women in all countries had a higher prevalence with a female:male ratio varying from 1.6 in Lebanon to 3.1 in West Germany.” Again, Junger did include a brief mention of women, but narrowed it down to North American women, when it clearly expands to other
Also research supports that ongoing stress impairs the growth of the nerve cell in the hippocampus. The amygdala is associated with emotions mainly fear and anger. With depressed individuals, a variety of scans show the amygdala to be very active and there is an increase in activity when the person is saddened or depressed. Even after affected people recovery, the increased activity in the amygdala is still present for a period of time. Another area of the body that research has determined plays a role with the development of depression is the endocrine system. The endocrine system is made up of small glands which are responsible for producing hormones and to release them into the bloodstream. The hormonal levels are keep constant and avoid
Depression is a growing problem in today’s modern society. In the United States sixteen million adults currently suffer from clinical depression. This leads to over thirty thousand suicides, and five hundred thousand suicide attempts amongst Americans every year. Even people in a “perfect” world can not escape this reality. Bernard from Brave New World suffers bouts of depression often. Depression is a growing issue that is not always recognized for its severity, nor treated with the attention it requires, which only results in the worsening of the issue. Despite the lack of attention, depression is one of the nation’s leading causes of disability. It is an easily treatable mental health disorder, and with rising general knowledge and awareness
A depression disorder is characterized by an episode of intense sadness, depressed moods or marked loss of interest or pleasure in nearly activities. Studies have revealed that depression in women is two to three times more prevalent in women than in men. With this being conveyed women deal with infidelity stresses and stresses and conflicts generally in a manner where depression is dominant. Depression disorder is rampant therefore in women where
3. As a result of this research, it is universally agreed upon that females are more susceptible to depression because of their gender specific stressful situations and their inability to deal with
The first way to help someone suffering with depression is to recognize when a person might be depressed. People may not realize it, but gender stereotypes can play a large role in people 's views of depression. Although women are more likely to get depression, many seem to think that depression is just 'a woman 's disease '. However, that 's not the case, anybody can be affected. "Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. Each year about 6.7% of U.S adults experience major depressive disorder." (Depression) Stereotypes can play a huge role in not noticing depression as a factor for severe mood change in men. A new study suggests that both genders are less likely to view men as being depressed and in need of help from professionals, even if the symptoms are identical to a woman 's. "It’s a well-known fact that men and women who behave the same way in the exact same situation—whether it’s a job interview, a
Depression is a mental health mood disorder that affects a person’s ability to function in the society, and it has increased over the years. It affects 1 in 6 persons in the United States or approximately 17.6 million Americans yearly (Andrew & Brenner, 2012). Depression affects a person’s ability to function physically, socially, psychologically and economically. . It does not only affect the individual it also affects the family and friends. It is estimated that 10-14 million people yearly will be diagnosed with depression and women age 18- 48 account for the largest proportion (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2009). Although depression is diagnosed more in women than in men, men are more likely to commit suicide due to depression. The factor of men that commit suicide is 4.5: 1. White men comite78% of all suicide, 56% of suicide in male involve firearm while poison is more common among women. The increase in depression is caused by chronic illness, personal life experiences and life style changes. And the economic cost is estimated at $30- 44 billion annually in the United States (Andrew & Brenner, 2012). Detecting depression early and using the appropriate treatment will prevent frequent
There are many reasons that may lead a person into a state of depression and some of these issues may not be able to be fixed unless you seek professional help and assistance. Reasons causing depression can be biological, cognitive, gender, medications, genetics and situational issues. The issue that may cause biological depression can be caused from a person having to many or not enough brain chemicals that are referred to as neurotransmitters. Cognitive issues causing depression typically steam from a person having negative thoughts or low self esteem toward them. These issues may also lead them to assume other people think the same way about them. Gender issues that may cause depression for women throughout their lives may steam from the hormonal changes during menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. One thing that is still unclear is if women develop depression issues at twice the rate of men. Issues that can be caused from medications may be caused by side effects of the medication or your body does not process the drug the way it is intended to be processed. Genetic depression puts you at a higher risk for having the same illness as family
Depression is steadily rising in today's society. According to Blue Cross Blue Shield, a health insurance company, in their article “Major Depression: The Impact on Overall Health”, a rate of 4.4 percent of people per year in the United States are diagnosed with depression which means nine million commercially insured people are affected (2018, para 6). Nine million is just commercially insured people and does not include people who are uninsured. This is because people who live in poverty have high rates of depression but can't be tracked because they are unable to afford treatment let alone insurance. The rate of depression is rising especially fast in millennials and teens. Blue Cross Blue Shield explains the diagnosis for milenails, people age 18-34, is up by forty-seven percent since 2013, and for adolescents, people age 12-17, they state diagnosis rate is up forty-seven percent for boys and sixty-five percent for girls since 2013 (2018, para 9). This could be because growing up in this timeframe is more stressful than past timeframes. Gender plays a role in the diagnosis rate. Blue Cross Blue Shields data shows women have a six percent diagnosis rate and men have a three percent diagnosis rate (2018, para 3). However the difference in diagnosis rate between men and women could be because women are more likely to go get
People lose interest in things they used to enjoy and may withdraw from others.” While the CMHA does not explicitly note in its definition that both men and women may experience this mental illness, its use of the words “some” and “people,” instead of women, can be seen as suggesting that both sexes are susceptible. The assertion that both men and women can experience postpartum depression is corroborated by a study done by Escribà-Agüir and Artazcoz (2011). Despite the position of these two sources, Thurtle (1995) explicitly notes that diagnosis of postpartum depression should be “restricted to mothers with a depressive illness,” asserting that this pathology exclusively affects women. Being that Thurtle’s study was published in 1995, within a decade of researchers beginning to study sex differences, and similarities, and only a year after women were allowed to participate in biomedical research, it is likely that they did not consider investigating the illness through a gendered lens.