Survey Finds Women Twice as Likely as Men to Have Depression

A recent survey shows that women are twice as likely as men to have depression. Around 8% of Americans reported depression in any given two weeks period. A recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) revealed that a significant worsening of depression has not been reported over the last decade, but it clearly shows who is more prone to suffer from depression. Another study reveals that most of these people do not get treatment for the same. Women are two times more prone to develop depression according to the NCHS. Between the years 2013 and 2016, around 5.5% of men reported depression while around 10.4% women developed depression.

There were significant differences in depression rates according to the income and ethnicity. Depression was much lower among the non-Hispanic Asian adults (3.1%) as compared to non-Hispanic black (9.2%), Hispanic (8.2%) and non-Hispanic white adults (7.9%). Around 16% of people below poverty level experienced symptoms of depression as compared to 3.5% of people living at 400% of the poverty level. Around 80% of people with depression reported difficulties with social activities, home and work because of their depression.

Also, only a meager 2.3% of the high-income group males had depression as compared to 20% of females below the poverty level. As per the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), not everyone who is depressed experiences similar symptoms. Some of them might experience more symptoms than others. Treatments for depression can include therapy, different medications, and brain stimulation. Genetic factors, major changes in life, substance abuse, several medical conditions and childhood trauma can result in depression.

A team from Kaiser Permanente analyzed that only around one-third of people with depression get a treatment within first three months of being diagnosed. They observed that in around 240,000 patients, only 35.7% of them initiated some kind of treatment for depression between 2010 and 2013. This report was also published in Journal of General Internal Medicine. Ethnic minorities and older people were more reluctant in receiving treatment. Beth Waitzfelder from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Honolulu, led this study and believes that there is significant stigma associated with depression. They further plan to understand as to why more depressed people do not seek proper treatment.