Depression is a psychologically distressing condition that causes a lot of mental anguish and suffering for the patients. For a period of two weeks or more, patients suffer from low moods that lead to loss of mental functioning and ability for normal physical activities. A major cause of depression is distressing events in life shown in a panic disorder diagnosis for example. Depression in men and women does not differentiate on the basis of age, ethnicity, race, economic status and gender. Gender And Depression – What Is The Connection Researchers have not been able to fully understand the reasons behind depression affecting women more than men. There are various explanations and speculations that include social, psychological and biological factors. Biologically, hormone levels in women tend to change a lot before their menstrual period, at the onset of menopause and during the period just after childbirth. This could be a major cause for increased rate of depression in women. Men are found to be hormonally stable throughout their lives and are therefore at a lesser risk of becoming depressed. This is however a theory and there is not enough evidence to support the same. Adolescent Girls And Boys Are At Equal Risk Interestingly, though adult women are more prone to depression than men, adolescent girls and boys are equally susceptible to falling into this mental condition. At this stage, there seems to be no relation between gender and depression. During the college years, girls and boys are at equal risk and ...

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