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Depression in men and women is thought to be different. One of these
differences is the assumption that some imbalance of female hormones
can play a significant role in the onset of depression in women. This,
it is often argued, helps to explain the reason why more women than men
appear to suffer from depression. But is it really as simple as this?
Two
conditions commonly associated with hormones and depression are
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and the so-called ‘baby blues'
(postpartum depression). Premenstrual disorders and postpartum
depression do seem to point to hormonal imbalance, but research
findings are actually less conclusive than might be expected in
relation to the role of female hormones to depression.
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As I said in an earlier blog entry,
most of my childhood was blighted by clinical depression. After I was
diagnosed at age 27, my parents told me that they knew something was
wrong, but didn't know what. Not surprising, since I grew up in the
1960s and 70s, and depression in children wasn't even considered a
possibility until the 1980s. But even today, years after the medical
community acknowledged that children could be clinically depressed, it
is not easy to recognize.
There are a couple of reasons
why this is the case. Although more and more people are becoming aware
that clinical depression is not a mood but a disease, there are still
plenty of people who don't realize that. So while they might be able to
find reasons why an adult might be depressed (trouble with the person's
job or marriage, financial difficulties, etc.) there are generally few
reasons that a child might be displaying a sad demeanor, barring major
loss of some kind or a dysfunctional home life.
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One in seven women suffers
from depression before, during or after pregnancy, a new study
finds.
The consequences of depression can be devastating to the mother,
her baby and her entire family, according to the report in the
October issue of
The American Journal of Psychiatry.
"The prevalence of women diagnosed with depression before,
during and after pregnancy was pretty similar," said lead author
Patricia Dietz, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention's Division of Reproductive Health.
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Investing in depressed employees - quickly
getting them treatment and even offering telephone psychotherapy - can
cut absenteeism while improving workers' health, a study suggests.
Many
employers view mental health coverage as a financial black hole, but
the study shows that spending money on depression is a smart business
move, said researcher Dr. Philip Wang. Wang works for the National
Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study.
Employees
who got the aggressive intervention worked on average about two weeks
more during the yearlong study than those who got the usual care -
advice to see their doctor or seek a mental health specialist.
Also,
more workers in the intervention group were still employed by year's
end - 93 percent vs. 88 percent - savings that helped employers avoid
hiring and training costs, the researchers said.
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Pointing to a disconnect between doctors and some of their neediest
patients, a new study suggests that large numbers of physicians fail to
spot symptoms that raise suicide risk.
U.S. researchers recruited actresses to act as patients and visit
physicians while showing signs of depression or a similar disorder.
Only 36 percent of the doctors asked the "patients" about suicidal thoughts, the team found.
"There is often a window of opportunity for doctors to screen for
suicidality and intervene appropriately, but, as we found, they
frequently miss this opportunity," said study lead author Dr. Mitchell
Feldman, professor of medicine at the University of California at San
Francisco.
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