Depression in women
Depression is a serious mental disorder that will afflict one in eight American women at some point in their lives. According to the National Mental Health Association, approximately 12% of American women, or 12.4 million women, suffer from depression each year. Depression most frequently afflicts women aged 25 to 44, with the average age of onset 14.5 years.
Depression in women can be traced to a number of factors, which can be divided into biological, social and psychological causes. Biological causes of depression include hormonal fluctuations related to the menstrual cycle or pregnancy as well as post-partum depression. Social factors include unhappiness over relationships, poverty, sexual abuse and stress over their conflicting personal and professional responsibilities. Psychological causes include concerns over body image particularly during the onset of adolescence as well as over-rumination due to emotional tension which can reinforce depression.
There is a number of risk factors for depression in women. This includes a family history of mental disorders, loss of a parent before the age of ten, a childhood history of abuse, the presence of persistent stressors in their lives such as unemployment and financial problems, the use of oral contraceptives with high progesterone content and the lack or loss of a social support system. Women from lower socioeconomic classes are also more likely to develop depression as they struggle with problems such as unemployment, single motherhood, discrimination and lack of money.
There are two main approaches for treating depression in women, psychotherapy and the use of anti-depressant drugs. Women who are diagnosed as suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) or severe depression resulting from premenstrual syndrome can treat themselves using self-help therapies such as exercise, reducing or eliminating salt, caffeine and alcohol from their diet, taking dietary supplements such as magnesium, calcium, vitamin B-6 and vitamin E, and practicing stress-reduction techniques such as meditation and yoga.
