Research Paper on Does Gender Affect Depression

Introduction

Human beings are faced with different issues in society. Some of these issues can be helpful to their lives while some of them might be harmful to them. Most of the issues that affect people in society currently are psychological issues. One of the main problems that most people have experienced is depression. Depression refers to a state whereby human being develops severe feelings of dejection as well as rejection. The number of the case of people who have shown signs of depression is has been increased over the past few years. There are many factors which are believed to affect depression. Gender is one of the elements which has been linked with the occurrence of depression. Therefore, this paper seeks to find out whether gender affects depression.

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Depression can quickly occur in a person whether male or female once the feeling of dejection or rejection begins to happen. However, researchers have come to find to find out that the rate of depression seems high for women than men. The number of cases of depression that have been dealt with have shown that many females undergo depression compared to men. According to the data provided by the researcher, It is evident that the number of women who are experiencing depression stands at 4 % while men are at 1.7% (Hankin, Young, & Abela 2015).

There are various factors which contribute to high depression in women. According to Hahm, Cook, & Ault-Brutus (2015), one of the issues that is likely to cause depression in women is gender difference during socialization. When women are still little girls, they are socialized by their teachers as well as their parents to be sensitive as well as nurturing to the opinions that other people have on them. On the other hand, the little boys are taught to develop a great sense of independence and mastery as they are growing up. This issue is likely to lead to greater depression in women because most of the cases they have to look outside themselves so that they can get validation.

The other way that gender affects depression is through copying different. There is a lot of copying the differences between men and women. Researchers have shown that several women have the likely to employ an emotion-focused coping style that is ruminative (Girgus, & Yang 2015). This method of copying pulls all their problems to the mind. On the contrary, men tend to use a copying method that problem-focused which distracts them and helps them to forget the troubles they are undergoing. The ruminative style of copying that is mostly used in women has a high chance of leading to more extended as well as severe episodes of depression. Therefore, this issue makes women more vulnerable to depression.

Social roles, as well as a cultural influence, are the other factors that cause depression to be more in women (Soysa, & Wilcomb 2015). Most of the women who end up being mothers or housewives many find that their roles are not valued by society. Also, women who are working and they are pursuing their career outside home my face job inequality as well as discrimination. At times these women feel that their roles as mother or wife conflicts with their work. Due to this social circumstance that women are in, severe life events that is associated with taking care of children, reproduction or housing may hit the women hard because they regard these activities as essential on defining them and they cannot define themselves when these activities are threatened. These issues usually result in high rates of depression among women.

The fourth issue that is likely to contribute to depression in women is the different experienced in the frequency as well as reaction to a life event that is stressful. Women experienced a lot of stressful events in their lives and are sensitive to them compared to men. Girls who are at the adolescence stage are likely to report adverse life events as compared to boys. In most case, these adverse events are related to the relationship that these girls have with their peers or parents. This issue causes most of these girls to undergo high levels of distress. According to Schuch, Roest, & Nolen (2014), women are likely to experience depression when they are dealing with a stressful life event compared to men. Furthermore, women are likely to experience a stressful event six months before the occurrence of a major depressive period.

Conclusion

Conclude, depression is one of the main issues that affect people within the society. Depression usually affects people negatively because it is one of the major causes of suicide globally. Different factors can contribute to depression. One of these factors is the gender difference. Various researchers have identified that the number of people who experienced depression as women. The number of women facing depression currently stands at 4% while men are lower at 1.7%. Several factors were identified which showed that gender affects depression. One of the elements that was identified was gender differences when socialization whereby women rely on the opinion of other people. The second issue that was discovered was gender differences that is evident is copying. Most women copy various issues in a way that it pulls the problem into their mind and may lead to depression. The third cause of depression among women was social roles as well as cultural influence. Differences in frequency, as well as the reaction to a stressful life, was the other factor that contributes to high rates of depression in women.

References

Girgus, J. S., & Yang, K. (2015). Gender and depression. Current Opinion in Psychology, 4, 53-60.

Hahm, H. C., Cook, B. L., Ault-Brutus, A., & Alegria, M. (2015). An intersection of race-ethnicity and gender in depression care: screening, access, and minimally adequatetreatment. Psychiatric Services, 66(3), 258-264.

Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., Abela, J. R., Smolen, A., Jenness, J. L., Gulley, L. D., ... &Oppenheimer, C. W. (2015). Depression since childhood into late adolescence: influenceof gender, development, genetic susceptibility, and peer stress. Journal of abnormalpsychology, 124(4), 803.

Schuch, J. J., Roest, A. M., Nolen, W. A., Penninx, B. W., & De Jonge, P. (2014). Genderdifferences in depressive disorders: results from the Netherlands study of depression andanxiety. Journal of affective disorders, 156, 156-163.

Soysa, C. K., & Wilcomb, C. J. (2015). Mindfulness, self-compassion, self-efficacy, and genderas predictors of depression, anxiety, stress, and well-being. Mindfulness, 6(2), 217-226.