FEMALE SUICIDE
Female Depression and Suicide
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Female Depression and Suicide


 

The most widespread mood disorder is untreated depression

 

Each year, uncountable millions of women around the world suffer from various forms and degrees of depression. Of this incalculable number, only a  relatively small percentage are believed to actually seek professional help! Consequently, hundreds of thousands (no-one knows how many) die by their own hands. Hundreds of thousands are hospitalised following suicide attempts. Often disabled, maimed, mutilated or virtually brain-dead. Hundreds of thousands more are just patched up in emergency departments and discharged (probably wrongly diagnosed as self harmers) and no-one knows how many hundreds of thousands (for whatever reason) who conceal their suicide attempt through feelings of guilt and shame.

 

 

INTRODUCING DEPRESSION

Worldwide, tens, (possibly hundreds) of millions, of women are believed to experience at least one episode of depression in the space of a year. Whilst, major depression (and dysthymia) are believed to affect approximately two times as many women as men.

Women are much more likely to have certain types of anxiety disorders, including anxiety, panic, and phobic disorders. Nearly all statistics on the matter suggest that the overwhelming majority of cases involving eating disorders occur in women. Research also indicates that there appears to be a high correlation between eating disorders/depression and between eating disorders/substance abuse.

Untreated mental illness can be fatal, this being so, suicide is a leading cause of death among women worldwide. Women are also much more likely to attempt suicide than are men. But, women are far less likely to die from their attempts.

Women and Depression

Suicide's primary cause is widely accepted to be untreated depression. In other words; undiagnosed. For whatever reason, a significant percentage of us simply do not go to the doctors. One can often encounter professional assertions that more than half of women with depression remain undiagnosed, untreated or undertreated. Clearly this large volume of people will not be included in the following statistics.

 

It is estimated that approximately twice as many women as men suffer from a depressive illness. It is also widely believed that as many as 1 in 5 women will have at least one episode of depression that should be treated at some time in their lives.

 

Conventionally, female depression is commonly associated with menopause. However, it seems that the ‘childbearing’ years have the highest rates of depression, followed by the years leading up to the menopause itself.

 

Worldwide: Research is currently being conducted into the causes and treatment of depressive disorders in women. Amongst the areas under investigation is life stress and depression. Recent data suggests that stressful life experiences may play a larger role in provoking recurrent episodes of depression in women than in men.

 

The influence of hormones on depression in women has been an active area of NIMH research. One recent study was the first to demonstrate that the troublesome depressive mood swings and physical symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a disorder affecting 3 to 7 percent of menstruating women, result from an abnormal response to normal hormone changes during the menstrual cycle. Among women with normal menstrual cycles, those with a history of PMS experienced relief from mood and physical symptoms when their sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, were temporarily "turned off" by administering a drug that suppresses the function of the ovaries. PMS symptoms developed within a week or two after the hormones were re-introduced. In contrast, women without a history of PMS reported no effects of the hormonal manipulation. The study showed that female sex hormones do not cause PMS—rather, they trigger PMS symptoms in women with a preexisting vulnerability to the disorder. The researchers currently are attempting to determine what makes some women but not others susceptible to PMS. Possibilities include genetic differences in hormone sensitivity at the cellular level, differences in history of other mood disorders, and individual differences in serotonin function.

NIMH researchers also are currently investigating the mechanisms that contribute to depression after childbirth (postpartum depression), another serious disorder where abrupt hormonal shifts in the context of intense psychosocial stress disable some women with an apparent underlying vulnerability. In addition, an ongoing NIMH clinical trial is evaluating the use of antidepressant medication following delivery to prevent postpartum depression in women with a history of this disorder after a previous childbirth.

Research into the mechanisms that contribute to depression after childbirth (postpartum depression), another serious disorder where abrupt hormonal shifts in the context of intense psychosocial stress disable some women with an apparent underlying vulnerability. In addition, an ongoing NIMH clinical trial is evaluating the use of antidepressant medication following delivery to prevent postpartum depression in women with a history of this disorder after a previous childbirth