Women Get More Depressed Than Men

Women Get More Depressed than Men

In the articles, "Gender differences in depression", and "Why Change the World When You Can have a Prozac Moment?" I found much information to support the stereotype that women get more depressed than men. It seems that for many reasons, "gender differences in depressive disorders are genuine." (Piccinelli and Wilkinson 1) "This is due to the fact that depression, regardless of what other name it has been called or how it has been described, has always been known to afflict women more than men." (Hassibi 1) There are many factors that play a part in depression being considered as basically a women's affliction. The fact that more women report depression, while most men externalize stress and anxiety in activities such as alcoholism and drug use, is a major factor. "The evidence suggests that the above mentioned disorders may share genetic and environmental factors with depression, but cannot be considered simply as indirect manifestations of depression." (Piccinelli and Wilkinson 1)

"The self-sacrifice and self-betrayal required from women, and the powerlessness and insecurity associated with these postures, are major causes of women's dissatisfaction with their lives." (Hassibi 1) Women's behaviors and feelings have always been jokingly explained as being related to their biology. However, new research has "found evidence indicating that the menstrual cycle may play a part in the differential susceptibility of women to some psychiatric illnesses." Even though women might have legitimate reasons for being unhappy, their complaints might have an honest basis, regardless of the stereotype of them being chronic complainers and nags. It could also be mentioned that the doctors that treat women for depression may be responsible for perceiving and interrupting their complaints in ways that would lean towards that diagnosis.

Even though I have found in my research that gender does have a direct correlation with depression, the factors that cause depression are more prevalent for women than for men. Women better straighten out their lives so that they can feel happiness, respect, and success on a more constant level, or they will continue to be stereotyped as pill popping depressives.