Psychology

Depression has been identified as the most common mental illness in the society. By definition, depression is an abnormal change in an individual moods and chain of thought which have the end result of interfering with the normal daily life of the victim (Simonds 51). This type of psychological disorder affects eating and sleeping habits, self-esteem and an individuals worldview.

According to available psychological evidence, it is clear that depression has a prevalence rate of twice in women than in men (Medline Plus). This as been closely attributed to the fact that women display outward signs of depression such as crying and sense of hopelessness more frequently compared to men. Another a reason is that men are font of shifting blame of their internal feelings to external factor as opposed to women (Clarke 14).

This paper is written as a discussion of the problem of depression between women and men. The author uses various examples and evidence in supporting the major points given in the paper.
The actual causes of depression in either women or men are not clear. However, research experts have cited a number of possible causes of depression. First is a persons genetic makeup. Existing statistic on prevalence to depression show that depression is a family hierarchy problem (Simonds 56). It has been found one is more likely to sustain depression if their relatives were or are victims of the disorder.

The individuals biochemical environment such as body hormone and neurotransmitter imbalances can lead to depression. Evidence from magnetic resonance imaging of the human brain has shown that victims of depression have their neurotransmitters out of balance (Ainsworth 73). Just to be noted here is the fact that neurotransmitters are responsible for executing communication across the various brain faculties.

Personal experience and psychological factors can also lead to depression. It is to be realized here that the ability of an individual to sustain andor contain stress are different. Therefore, exposure to certain external factors such as stressful experiences and abuse can be seen to have the potential of causing depression (Medline Plus).

However, there are a number of risk factors to depression in both men and women. Such include anxiety, panic, and social phobia disorders and infection by terminal diseases (Verma, and Allison 34). These factors are marked with recurrent flashbacks by the individual on an occurrence, a factor which leads to depression. Substance abuse can compromise ones reasoning and value for life thus risking depression.

It has been evidently claimed that women are twice likely to get depression compared to men. This has been attributed to the fact that men tent to blame external factors for their internal feelings, and that they do not frequently express outward signs of depression such as crying and sense of hopelessness. Depression in men is mainly expressed through increased alcohol intake and anger, factors which many times go unreported (Medline plus).

Women however have some other risk factors which make them more vulnerable to depression. The first is their reproductive cycles. Women reproduction has many cycles such as menstrual cycle, pregnancy, giving birth, menopause, and infertility. It has been established this changes are usually marked with hormonal changes thus have the potential of causing depression (Ainsworth 79). Decisions on whether or not to bear children and the stress they cause on women have been seen as a risk factor to increased depression cases in women.

Relationships and work roles are another risk factor for women and depression. Stress is a leading cause of depression in many people (Verma, and Ellison 36). The higher rates of depression occurrence in women are due to their vulnerability as victims of domestic violence in relationships. Still, women have many responsibilities in the society such as dealing with household and work issues as well as striving to meet societal expectation. These responsibilities are sometimes stressful thus increasing their chances of sustaining depression.

The high prevalence of depression in women is also closely attributed to their psychological makeup. Unlike men, women have been found to be victims of pessimism. They are also identified with low self-esteem and compromised sense of control on occurrences in their lives (Clarke 19). This makes them victims of worry a factor which has the potential of complicating their stressful conditions thus making them more likely to develop depression

Last is the fact that depression in women starts at the adolescence stages (Simonds, 55). Scientific evidence has revealed that depression at adolescence is caused by the dramatic changes of responsibilities that occur in women. The problem of confront sexuality and engaging in independent decision making as well as the quest to find identity in the society can lead to depression. Still, at this stage, women experience various physical and hormonal changes and are therefore more likely to develop depression.

In conclusion, it is clear that women are more likely to develop depression due to a number of risk factor particular in them. This includes reproduction cycles and developmental changes. Women also have many responsibilities and social expectations which risk their development of depression. The pessimistic nature of women and the fact that they are major victims of domestic violence are also to be cited as risk factors.