Depression and women

National Women's Health Report, August, 2003

Finding Relief

If there's one thing you should take away from this article and this newsletter, it's that help, although sometimes difficult to find, is available and does work. All the women interviewed for this article found help for their own depression through medication, or a combination of medication and therapy, and are glad they did.

A few weeks after starting on the antidepressant citalopram (Celexa), a new antidepressant, Ms. Ingleside heard a strange sound. It was her own laughter. "It was then that I realized I hadn't heard myself laugh out loud in quite sometime."

The Many Faces of Depression

Depression affects 19 million people in the United States.

African Americans are 40 percent less likely to experience depression than Hispanic or Caucasians, although African Americans who develop depression are 30 percent more likely to suffer lasting or recurring depression than other ethnic groups.

Additionally, people living in poverty are nearly four times as likely to suffer lasting or recurring depression as those in higher socioeconomic groups. (3)

Depression Defined

The symptoms of depression include: a persistent sad, anxious or "empty" mood; loss of interest or pleasure in your regular activities, including sex; restlessness, irritability or excessive crying; feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness and/or hopelessness; sleeping too much or too little; appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain; thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts. (4)

Physical symptoms, such as digestive problems and vague aches and pains, may also signal depression. (14)

There are three major forms of depressive illness:

Major depression, sometimes referred to as unipolar or clinical depression, lasts at least two weeks, but may last for several months or longer and may occur several times over the lifetime.

Dysthymia. Although this form includes the same symptoms as major depression, symptoms are milder and last longer, at least two years. People with dysthymia frequently lack zest and enthusiasm for life, living a joyless and fatigued existence that seems almost a natural outgrowth of their personalities. They can also experience major depressive episodes.

Manic-depression, or bipolar disorder, is not nearly as common as the other forms of depressive illness. It involves disruptive cycles of depressive symptoms that alternate with mania. (4)

* Not her real name.

Resources

American Psychiatric Association

1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825

Arlington, VA 22209-3901

703-907-7300

http://www.psych.org

Provides a variety of resources for consumers on mental disorders.

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

730 N. Franklin Street, Suite 501

Chicago, Illinois 60610-7224

1-800-826-3632

http://www.dbsalliance.org

Resources available for people with mood disorders and their families, including online chat rooms and e-mail newsletter.

National Alliance for the Mentally III

2107 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300

Arlington, VA 22201-3042

1-800-950-6264

http://www.nami.org

Advocacy organization that offers information and guidance for finding treatment.