How Is Depression Affecting Women's Health?

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

In terms of public health and associated concern, in the recent years it has been observed that mental illness has major impact on pregnant women and postpartum period which has become a concern of public health lately. The aspect that associated with pregnancy of women and their mental health that has brought this topic in the forefront is the fact that mental health problems like depression and anxiety have the probability to impact women twice as compared to men. The severity of the situation seen from a global perspective, shows that depression is one of the major reasons of maternal mental illness during the childbearing age of women, which is approximately between the age group of 18 to 40 years. As a result of this to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) it contributes approximately 7% of the entire GBD for women of all age group (Leham, 2015).

Depression is a chemical imbalance of the brain, usually when the part of the brain that produces serotonin produces the chemical in lower quantities (Rivas). Every year Americans consume more anti-depressants than any other nation in the world and from the years “1988-1994, the use of anti-depressants increased by 400%” (Ross). Statistically speaking, women have a 70% chance of developing depression over men and about 13% of the women who have children would develop postpartum depression (Holms). There is no doubt that depression impacts a large amount of people and affects the wallets of those with depression. Globally, 350,000,000 people suffer from some form of depression, of those affected with depression; $80,000,000,000 is spent on antidepressants and therapy (Holms). There are

Brown, et al. (2005) found that depression appears to increase the threat of developing diabetes by roughly 23% in younger adults. De Groot (2010) agrees saying studies in which people were tracked down for more that 10 to 20 years, instituted that people with a history of high depression are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in on life. (Mann, 2010) also showed that depression amplified the risk for diabetes, and diabetes amplified the risk for depression. Particularly, depressed women were 17% more prone to develop diabetes even after the researchers considered other risk factors like weight and irregular exercise. (Nordqvist, 2010) also concluded that women with depression had a 17% higher danger of developing diabetes. Finally, Pouwer et al. (2010) suggested that it is not only depression but also general emotional stress, anxiety, anger, sleeping problems and resentment are associated with an amplified risk for the development of type 2 diabetes.It is therefore evident from all these studies, that depression can lead to diabetis within a span of ten years or less as was evidenced in Mr. Banks

Depression is not experienced in the same manner and to the same extent by all age groups and sexes. It is a well known fact that women experience depression more than men. This is true regardless of economic status, racial and ethnic background. There are many factors responsible for this difference in the experience of depression. Research has shown that hormonal, biological, life cycle and psychological factors are mainly responsible for the higher rate of depression in women as compared to men. Research has also shown that the chemical processes of the brain, that control mood and emotions, are directly affected by hormones. The hormone secretions in women vary according to life cycles and periodical physical changes that women experience.

According to a report released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), “The rate of antidepressant use in this country among teens and adults (people ages 12 and older) increased by almost 400% between 2005 and 2008.” One of the more disquieting statistics from this report, which analyzed prescription claims data from 2.5 million insured Americans from 2001 to 2010, is that one in four women is prescribed medication for a mental health concern, compared to just 15 percent of men. These striking numbers for an increased need for emotional medication may be related to the biological factors that contribute to the high depression rates among women. Additionally, in a time when women feel the immense pressure to compete in a

There is a close correlation between depression and stress that increase of the chance of getting heart disease. From stress there is a lot of pressure on the heart from the tightening of the blood vessels and an increase in heart rate from the stress hormones; eventually leading to heart disease. Issues within the cardiovascular system are "linked more closely to depression than to smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol" (Healthline, 2014, para. 11). The immune system is also weakened, raising the chances of infections and diseases because it is too weak to fight them off since it is undergoing constant stress. As a matter of fact, the stress hormones become suppressed; therefore struggle with fighting off bacterial infections, and

Depression is also a serious illness, with an enormous effect on worsening health (Online 2014)

From a Darwinian perspective depression has evolved as an adaptive advantage to fitness; as it is so prevalent in the population (). The infection-defence hypothesis of depression, suggests that moods are responsible for many physical and behavioural responses within humans, and has played an adaptive role in evolution, to help fight off existing infections and by helping individuals and their family members to avoid new ones (). In support of the hypothesis, Miller and Raison () suggest that genetic variation that endorse depression helped ancestors fight off infection, they implied that depression has a relation to inflammation or an over activated immune system; people who suffer with depression tend to have higher levels of inflammation, even if they are not fighting an infection. Moreover, foods which are generally consumed more, during the phase of depression can aid the immune system; high intake of carbohydrates can influence immune function as it causes changes in cell activity and proinflammotary cytokines () (Braun & Von Duvillard, 2004). This highlights that depression is offering an evolutionary advantage, in the context of having a health benefit.

Based on the article “coping with chronic illness and depression” which reviewed by Joseph Goldberg, illnesses that indicate the higher rate of depression among patients are heart attack, coronary artery disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic pain syndrome. Live a whole life with such illnesses is really a big challenge and complication.

used three different tests: the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. These are psychiatric-based multiple choice tests and do not consider outside factors in the patient’s life or the subjectivity associated with such an assessment (Sheehan,1998; Cox,1987; Psychiat 1979). Provided the complexity of depression as a mental disorder, the limitations from these assessments could be overcome through the use of brain scans (“NIH Research Matters”, 2013). The women were split up into three groups: past depression, current depression and no history of depression. A quantitatively biological assay such as an MRI could divide these groups in a more objective and pronounced

Depression is a sort of feeling or mood people experience when life gets rough, or things are not going as planned, I think it’s a normal side effect of bad mood, but apparently there is more to it than that. Certain infections of brain such as “toxoplasma gondii” (an obligate, intracellular, parasitic protozoan that causes the disease toxoplasmosis) can result in emotional disturbance and have been linked to emotional changes in human behavior which could lead to depression or immune disorder.

Men and women are biologically similar in regards to the hormones and chemicals involved with depression. However socially, each gender encounters different social afflictions that can often lead them into depressive states. In this essay, we will explore the common struggles that each gender experiences and how these realities effect their contrasting developments of depression.

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

A mother who struggles with depression post-partum is likely to expose her baby to more harmful effects. Gerhardt (2015) states that the baby of a depressed mother can find it difficult to cope with or get over stress, or they may be more fearful (p. 21). These babies also may respond to others with depression themselves, as their mother may be neglectful in their care (Gerhardt, 2015, p. 36). One of the reasons for this is because of their cortisol levels, which can fluctuate situationally. However, in infants this can affect their development (Gerhardt, 2015, p. 83) as well as their immune system (Gerhardt, 2015, p. 118), and is evidence that a mother with depression can have a significant impact on her child well beyond when the depression occurs. Additionally, Gerhardt (2015) notes that, “When they grow up, these babies of depressed mothers are highly at risk of succumbing to depression themselves.” (p.