Depression is more prevalent among women!
“Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.”
— Fyodor Dostoevsky
Women are suffering from depression nearly twice as likely as men. Hormonal changes and many biological factors causes mood change and depressed feelings which leads to higher risk of depression and which contributes to depression in women.
Women who are suffering from depression often suffer other mental health issues that need treatment as well, such as:
- Anxiety
- Eating disorders
- Drug or alcohol misuse
Females, medical undergraduates and those in higher years of study are more likely to recognise the problem of depression.
As being compared with male counterparts, girls and women in Ahmedabad and Vadodra have high depression literacy according to psychologist and behavioural scientist Nimrat Singh.
A survey was conducted for a period of two months between July and September in which there were 2,102 subjects, including 1,138 females and 964 males. These comprised 1,000 school students from classes 10 to 12, as well as 726 undergraduate students from arts and commerce colleges, and 376 school teachers from 14 private educational institutes of Ahmedabad and Vadodra.
“There is a link between female and high depression literacy. This could be due to the fact that women are perceived to be more likely to experience depression and thus, are more aware about mental health… factors such as post-partum depression, hormonal changes, menopause, etc., make them more prone to the same,” said Singh.
Girls spend far more time using social media than boys, and are more likely to display signs of depression linked to their interaction on platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook.
For girls, greater daily hours of social media use corresponded to a stepwise increase in depressive symptoms,” explained Kelly.
“Girls, it seems, are struggling with these aspects of their lives more than boys, in some cases considerably so,” said Prof Yvonne Kelly, from University College London.
Depression is both common and treatable. So If you think you are depressed…so do not take tension and never hesitate to seek help from others..
