Depression and Gender

We've all been told numerous times before that women tend to be depressed more than men.  I found an interesting article that's actually quite old, but it raises an interesting point.  It essentially states that men and women may both develop disorders in response to stress or a major life event.  But it appears that our social-based gender differences cause the development to be different.  Whereas females tend toward depression, males possible tend toward antisocialism or alcoholism.  So perhaps both genders are affected by the stress, but the reactions are different, and the reactions are based on how we were taught to behave and respond based on our gender.  I may have to see if I can find anything more recent on this for future posts!  I find this very fascinating.

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/depression/exploring-gender-difference-depression

Exploring Gender Difference in Depression

March 01, 2001 | Depression, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, Addiction, Alcohol Abuse

By James Y. Nazroo, MBBS, MSc, PhD

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Do Men Develop Alternative Disorders?

Another possibility is that gender differences in depression rates may be the result of men developing alternative disorders in response to stress, such as antisocial behavior and alcohol abuse. In particular, women may be more likely to have been socialized to express dysphoria in response to stress and men may be more likely to have been socialized to express anger or other forms of acting out