Social Factors Contributing to Depression in Women
Social Factors Contributing to Depression in Women
Laura Stevens
Excelsior College
Abstract
It is a well-known fact in the medical and psychology community that women suffer from depression about twice as much as men. This statistic is often attributed to the different and fluctuating hormones that women experience throughout their lifetime. An area that is often over looked when researching this illness is the sociological circumstances that contribute to depression in women. This paper will explore some of the social situations that are unique to women that put them at a much greater risk of developing depression. This research will help answer the question as to why women are afflicted with depression twice as much as men.
Introduction
While deciding what subject to choose for this research paper many options came to mind, but one subject seemed to stand out. The question I want to explore is why is it that women seem to suffer from depression so much more than men? Is it simply that women report having depression more than men or do women really have a greater incidence of this disease? According to the World Health Organization “depression rates are 50% higher for females than males” (Marcus et al, 2012). There are so many factors that could be investigated regarding this subject that this could be a 40 page paper so it will need to be narrowed down. There are of course the obvious reasons that could lead women to suffer from depression more than men, such as pregnancy and hormonal fluctuations throughout life, but, for this paper, I will focus on the less obvious reasons that often get over looked by society. I will examine the sociological causes that are unique to women that often lead to higher rates of depression for this group. The specific areas that this paper will cover are economic status, family care, career stress, and social support network.
Before diving into this subject it would be helpful to define what exactly depression
Laura Stevens
Excelsior College
Abstract
It is a well-known fact in the medical and psychology community that women suffer from depression about twice as much as men. This statistic is often attributed to the different and fluctuating hormones that women experience throughout their lifetime. An area that is often over looked when researching this illness is the sociological circumstances that contribute to depression in women. This paper will explore some of the social situations that are unique to women that put them at a much greater risk of developing depression. This research will help answer the question as to why women are afflicted with depression twice as much as men.
Introduction
While deciding what subject to choose for this research paper many options came to mind, but one subject seemed to stand out. The question I want to explore is why is it that women seem to suffer from depression so much more than men? Is it simply that women report having depression more than men or do women really have a greater incidence of this disease? According to the World Health Organization “depression rates are 50% higher for females than males” (Marcus et al, 2012). There are so many factors that could be investigated regarding this subject that this could be a 40 page paper so it will need to be narrowed down. There are of course the obvious reasons that could lead women to suffer from depression more than men, such as pregnancy and hormonal fluctuations throughout life, but, for this paper, I will focus on the less obvious reasons that often get over looked by society. I will examine the sociological causes that are unique to women that often lead to higher rates of depression for this group. The specific areas that this paper will cover are economic status, family care, career stress, and social support network.
Before diving into this subject it would be helpful to define what exactly depression
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