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Depression in Women

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Just posting about one of those " women's health issues " things ;)

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

Turkish Rose Items To Delight

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Depression in Women

 

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/depression/19998

 

Author: John McManamy

Published on: July 20, 1999

 

" Most of the suffering that women endure, and by extension their families,

is unnecessary. "

 

It's an issue that NOW won't seem to touch with a ten-foot pole. Perhaps

it's beyond their jurisdiction. Maybe it's a matter of wait and see. Then

again, perhaps they are afraid of the firestorm it will touch off.

 

We are talking about depression, which women suffer in far greater numbers

than men. First and foremost it's a health issue, but the political

ramifications may have women caught in a cruel double-bind, where to speak

out is to invite a reaction that begs them being wrongly perceived as the

weaker sex.

 

Already we are talking about the number one health problem in females,

affecting one in five over the course of a lifetime, double the number in

males. Of those, at least half will suffer a second episode. In addition to

classical depression, women are also subject to specific types related to

their ability to bear children, such as post-partum depression and

depression brought on by PMS.

 

With the onset of puberty, women begin suffering far more than boys, which

carries over into adulthood and peaks at perimenopause, the transition into

menopause. Thereafter, the numbers gradually recede back to the levels of

men.

 

As to why women fall victim more, no one really knows. The most obvious

explanation is that maybe they do not suffer so much as speak out and get

help. But this hypothesis has been knocked down by studies that show

depression rampant in females across a wide variety of cultures, regardless

of their status.

 

The real reason may have to do with the various roles women are forced to

play in society, and the stresses and strains and abuses they are exposed

to. This social view, though, competes with a biological model that promises

to reveal down to the last amino acid the true underpinnings of our thoughts

and moods:

 

For starters, the relation between depression and reproductive functions

point to the ebb and flow of the the hormones estrogen and progesterone as

the main culprits, but neurological studies suggest matters are not all that

simple.

 

In research conducted by the NIMH, PET scan readings revealed that women

engaged eight times more of the brain's total area when thinking sad

thoughts. And a McGill University study discovered that men's brains produce

53 percent more serotonin than women (serotonin being the neurotransmitter

that is targeted by Prozac and other drugs).

 

One can imagine the political whirlwind this kind of research is bound to

reap, especially keeping in mind the enormous strides scientists are still

making. It is one thing to acknowledge that our bodies are different, but

what will be the consequences of knowing that we have different brains, as

well, especially if those in women are shown to be more vulnerable?

 

Just imagine the response from the Gordon Liddys of this world.

 

Several years ago, a book published by a right-wing think tank purported to

" scientifically " demonstrate by virtue of IQ scores that African-Americans

were inferior in intelligence to Caucasians and Asians. No doubt, some

ideological crackpot somewhere, armed with mounds of neurological data, is

busy sharpening his pencil.

 

Sure, eventually that person and his ideas will be ridiculed out of

existence, just like the author of that racist book, but not until he has

left behind the type of lingering suspicions that should have died with the

passing of Queen Victoria.

 

So, rather than draw attention to their so-called vulnerabilities, will

woman choose to suffer in silence, instead? Without doubt, that is already

the case:

 

Few depressed women actually seek out a psychiatrist when symptoms first

manifest. Typically they arrive at the office of a primary care physician

complaining of physical symptoms. According to an article in Medscape,

health care professionals miss at least one half of those with depression in

primary care, even when symptoms are severe.

 

In all, fewer than one third of depressed women get any help.

 

Perhaps things would be different if women were to rally around depression

and embrace it as a woman's issue, with the same kind of attention they give

to breast cancer. Suppose, for example, that for every public announcement

about breast self-exams and mammograms there was one about depressive

awareness.

 

Depression is treatable, after all. Most of the suffering that women endure,

and by extension their families, is unnecessary. One should print that out

in Pearl Harbor type and plaster it across every health clinic, communty

center, and school in the country.

 

 

 

On May 7, 1999 Tipper Gore, who then served as the President's main advisor

on mental health, wrote an article in USA Today in which she revealed her

own personal bout of depression back in 1991, for which she was treated:

 

" You can't just will your way out of that, " she wrote, " or pray your way out

of that or pull yourself up by the bootstraps out of that. You really have

to go and get help. "

 

" The Washington Post " the next day cynically observed that her disclosure

was a campaign ploy. Citing various political experts, they interpreted Mrs

Gore's going public as the type of damage control a candidate engages in

once it's apparent a skeleton is about to pop out of the closet.

 

Such is the stigma of depression.

 

On June 2, the former Second Lady related her bout with depression on Oprah

to an appreciative audience, and a few days later hosted a White House

Conference on Mental Health.

 

Thank you, Mrs Gore. May other women take up your cause and make their

vulnerabilities known, and the hell with what men may think.

 

See Newsweek for an article on neurological research. (link at site)

 

See Medscape for a scholarly article on gender differences, and Medscape

again for an article on the role hormones play. (link at site)

 

See also the excellent article at Mental Health Net. (link at site)

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