Sunday, January 22, 2006

Depression

So I haven't had much time for The Listener since Findlay McDonald left. But this weeks cover story on depression wasn't about beauty or house prices, so I thought it might be worth a read.

One of the interesting issues they raise is why diagnosed rates of depression are so much higher among women than men. The list of reasons that they come up with interesting (and very nitpickable - but as I've just got home and have seven seasons of Buffy and the Serenity DVD to watch, as well as lots of washing to do I'm not going to do as through a job as I'd like).

But there was one glaring omission from the list. Women are raped and sexually abused by men. The women I know who have been raped or sexually abused have suffered depression as a result.

Think that might be relevant?

6 comments:

  1. Ooh I need to go and find that article.

    That is a glaring omission and will be interesting to see the list.

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  2. just a wee bit.

    (and what's your Serenity Easter egg. I hear it's different in Australia)

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  3. I've got the American version, because the Australian version isn't going to be released for a couple of weeks and I'm impatient.

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  4. ahhhh. see I want to get teh austrailian version too. I'm jealous of your extras.

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  5. I think hormones and the physical burdens of child bearing are probably a major cause of women sufferring from depression. I remember saying to my SO when I had terrible morning sickness that I though I might be suffering from depression and he pointed out that it would be hard not to feel depressed when you have spent all day either vomiting or trying not to.

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  6. I personally think hormones, socialisation and roles, and sexual abuse, probably between them more than explain the different rates of depression between men and women (just looking at that list makes me depressed).

    Of course, these factors do inter-relate, I don't think post-partum depression (for example) is entirely about hormones, although that is an important part of the picture.

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