Depression: Five things women need to know about it
THE bad news is, women are almost twice as likely as men are to experience depression. The good news is that it is often treatable.
Depression is a serious mood disorder and a form of mental illness. When someone has symptoms of depression, they may find it difficult to work, eat, sleep or study. Although they may not be facing any particular hardship, they might feel sad and be generally unable to enjoy life.
A combination of factors, which can be genetic, biological, social and/or psychological, is usually at the root cause of depression.
Here are five things about depression that you need to know:
- You can’t just snap out of it.
Often people think that depression is all in someone’s head or that it can easily be reversed. Comments such as “Oh, you have so much of a good thing going” or “count your blessings and stay positive” do not help.
People with depression are often considered to be of weak character. However, depression is a disease in which the brain stops registering things that give pleasure in life. In fact, an article published on Johns Hopkins Medicine site said that MRI studies with depressed people had found changes in the parts of the brain that played a significant role in depression.
- There is more to it than mere sadness.
Depression is sometimes described as a feeling of being continually down in the dumps and having a heavy heart. However, some people with depression do not feel sadness. Instead, they experience physical symptoms such as aches and pains, headaches, cramps or digestive issues. Others experience fatigue and have trouble sleeping or waking up in the morning.
In fact, the World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, depression will be the second-leading cause of disability in the world after cardiovascular disease.
In addition, people who are depressed have higher chances of demonstrating other chronic medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, back problems, arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
- Perinatal depression is something often left undiagnosed.
Perinatal depression refers to both prenatal and postpartum depression. According to a report by the American Academy of Paediatrics, some half of women depressed during and after pregnancy go undiagnosed and untreated.
Contributing factors of perinatal depression include having previously struggled with episodes of depression or anxiety, experiencing stressful situations at work or at home, hormonal changes, as well as a lack of help of care for the newborn and fatigue.
The report also found that an estimated 15 to 20 percent of new mothers were affected by perinatal depression. When left untreated, it can affect the child’s safety, wellbeing and development.
- There is something called stay-at-home-mom depression.
It is certainly not easy being a stay-at-home-mom, although working mothers often feel otherwise. Society tends to deem these moms lucky to not have to work, while working moms have to juggle both work and home responsibilities.
However, stay-at-home moms often feel a sense of isolation and a loss of purpose, identity or self-worth. Add on lack of social interaction and you have a recipe for depression. Often, stay-at-home-moms also feel guilty for feeling what they feel and do not seek the necessary help.
- Social media and higher cases of depression among girls.
Getting young girls to limit their social media use could promote their mental health. A recent study found that almost 40 percent of girls who spent more than five hours a day on social media showed symptoms of depression and that girls with depression symptoms were twice as likely as boys to have been victims of online harassment.
According to the Millennium Cohort Study, based on interviews with almost 11,000 14-year-olds, girls spend far more time on social media than boys and the tendency for them to show signs of depression linked to their interaction on platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook are higher.
Online bullying and lack of sleep further contribute to their low spirits, the study found, while almost 75 percent of the girls who had depression demonstrated low self-esteem and a poor self image.
Authors: Elle Wong (act)
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