Health Report: Women get sad & men get mad!
Everyone knows what depression is, right? But just how
easy is it to tell whether someone is depressed or not?
Take the following cases: one person cries a lot, they're not
interested in doing anything much and when they talk about
themselves, they're highly critical. The other is really
irritable, flies into frequent rages and drinks heavily. Which of
them is depressed?
The answer is both: the
first is more likely to be a woman and the second is more common in
men. Until fairly recently most psychologists and doctors had a
unisex view of depression. The female version was considered
to be typical and everyone would be treated in much the same
way.
But some experts are now saying that men are losing out because
doctors generally don't consider such stereotypical male
behaviour as slugging back the whisky and then slugging anyone who
gets in their way as a sign of depression, so they are less likely
to get help. Research carried out in America also shows that men
respond much better to a different type of antidepressant than
woman do, which is also usually ignored during their treatment.
Women are roughly two to three times more likely to be depressed
than men. But is that simply because female depression is more
easily recognised and acceptable, or is it because there is
something about the ways women's bodies and brains work that
make them more vulnerable to depression? Or could it be that
society just deals women a poorer hand and so they have more reason
to be depressed?
While some of the signs of depression are the same for everyone the
feelings come out in different ways. "Men tend to externalise
their problems - they'll get angry," says Dr Cosmo
Hallstrom of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. "Women are
more likely to have low self-esteem and worry about their
appearance."
So how can you tell if you're depressed? Common symptoms for
men include regularly getting angry and blaming others for
problems, drinking more than usual or taking illegal drugs. They
can be agitated with feelings of shame, fear and hopelessness, find
themselves unable to eat properly and have sleep problems. Some
behaviour may even become compulsive.
Common symptoms for women include losing their get up and go,
comfort eating to feel better, sleeping too much and a loss of
interest in life. One in five women will experience depression in
their lifetime and are likely to say they feel sad and blame
themselves for problems beyond their control.
To read more of this article please join Candis or look at page 56 of
your October issue.
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