I taped a radio show the other day with Court Lewis of American Variety Radio in which he wanted me to cover the demographics of depression.
So here we go. Many of these stats I assembled from the book Understanding Depression by J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Others I picked in articles here and there.
Depression and Gender
More women are depressed than men because women have more to be depressed about than men. Kidding, of course. But I still don’t understand how our gender got stuck with labor pains and all that. Almost one in five women in the US will have one or more episodes of clinical depression, which is TWO or THREE times the rate of depressive illness that men have.
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“Naddy naddy boo boo.”
Why would a writer of a serious article, one on psychology, the thoughts, emotions and behavior of a human being seemingly mock either gender, another person?
The piece did have some interesting, insightful points but in the end I was left with the nagging wonderment of ‘why’ include that quoted sentence?
I agree completely. That is the point at which I stopped reading.
What about correlations between IQ and depression? Any research, Therese?
I have a serious problem with the supposed research findings in relation to gender and depression. Women report feeling depressed more frequently than men. This does not mean that women are more depressed than men. I would argue that it is possibly close to 50:50 but that men have been brought up to think that it may be inappropriate to express these feelings. I would further argue that this is especially more so in older men.
In Ireland, figures show that suicide tends to be a predominantly male phenomenon (especially in early adulthood/late teenage years)and that deliberate self-harm is more of a female phenomenon. Interestingly, suicide rates tend to drop for men after their forties. This may support the notion, as you suggested, that relationships/marriage are a protective factor for men (or is it resilience and other factors??)whilst the 40-44 age bracket reveals the highest peak for suicide in women.
When it is apparent that declared suicide rates are highest in males overall (I can only speak for Ireland, how on earth can one justify the finding that ‘more women suffer from depression’?
Thats a big Problem all over the world, my wife has that and it is difficult.
greets from besucher
I know this guy; always depressed or upset about a long list of things. But when I am cruising with him off of Key West ready for a marlin, he is always smiling, fun and a real joy to be with.
It seems having distractions one can enjoy has a lot to do with just how depressed someone is. depressed. When you can’t even have a nice time with a good friend, then you need extra help.