Women and Depression - Why are Women Affected More than Men?

It is no surprise that women are predisposed to battle depression more often than men.

So what is the reason why?

Actually there are several reasons women are more affected by depression than men.

An easy to understand reason is the hormonal changes women go through each and every month. Think about all the changes women go through from the time they are a teenager to the time they are an adult. Women go through puberty, menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause.

All of which present huge hormonal fluctuations that can wreck a woman’s emotions. You have heard of the wild mood swings many women endure on a monthly basis. These mood swings can cause real highs and real lows, an emotional roller coaster that goes on and on. This can lead to many opportunities for depression in women.

However it is not just the biological changes that a woman must deal with that affects their propensity to depression.

There are the many cultural and social pressures that make up such a large part of a woman’s everyday life that can also greatly influence the increase opportunity for depression. It is not uncommon at all for a woman to have more responsibilities in the day to day world than a man.

For those who are married or living with a partner often the woman is responsible for managing a full time job outside of the home, managing and caring for the house and children while at the same time being expected to look like a Playboy bunny ready to "take care of her man" each and every day.

So where on earth do her needs come into play? Oh that’s right, women are taught from an early age to not worry about themselves and what they need, after all that seems a little "selfish". Often the pressures of keeping up with it all can cause depression to set in.

And we haven’t even yet talked about the ever increasing number of single mothers out there who not only have a job to keep but a house to run, children to take care of and no one there on a day to day basis to help. Again a perfect set up for episodes of depression in women.

Another explanation for why women suffer more from depression than men may be the fact that when you think about the adage we preach of "equal work for equal pay"... well it sounds good, but in fact this is still not the case. Overall, women still earn less then men in identical positions. Facing that fact every day can help to contribute to poor self esteem.

So if you think about the all these pressures on top of the biological changes well then it should be no surprise at all that women seem to suffer more from depression than men. Many women fight the battle of depression at some point in their life. But with a good healthcare provider who can help women to understand what is happening and how to deal with it, women typically have good success in dealing with depression.