Cara-Louise Scott

Depression is a mental illness that one in six adults in the UK deals with, but it affects far more women than men. Following Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s worth considering why women are disproportionately affected and what can be done to reduce the effects.

Depressive disorder, commonly referred to as depression, is a common mental disorder. It can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, sexuality, and race, but there are some people who are more likely to be afflicted. Notably, those who have experienced stressful or traumatic events, loss, abuse, or other health conditions suffer from depression. The role of genetics is now commonly accepted to play a role, making depression a hereditary condition in some cases.

Depression causes low mood and a loss of interest in activities for a long period of time. Some people suffer from depression only once in their life, but for others, it is an ongoing battle and comes back regularly.

Symptoms of depression can include:

  • Poor concentration
  • Lack of interest in everyday activities
  • Feelings of excessive guilt, low self-worth, and sadness
  • Hopelessness about the future
  • Thoughts about dying 
  • Disrupted sleep
  • Changes in appetite or weight
  • Feeling very tired and low energy

While I wrote a piece back in December last year on the stigma of men’s mental health, it is also important to remember that women are more likely to have depression than men. Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression, and of those, depression is two times as likely to occur among women than men.  

Why do more women suffer from depression?

Women’s mental health is complicated by factors such as hormones, pregnancy or birth, and social pressures – all of which are unique to the female experience. Women are also more likely to experience certain symptoms more heavily than men. 

These can include:

  • Depression in the winter months (seasonal affective disorder) due to lower levels of sunlight
  • Symptoms of atypical depression: sleeping excessively, eating more, and gaining weight. Rather than sleeping less, eating less, and losing weight.
  • Stronger feelings of guilt and worthlessness, as well as criticising yourself for ‘mistakes’

The role of hormones

Premenstrual problems can increase depression in women. The fluctuation of hormones during a woman’s menstrual cycle can cause similar symptoms to PMS (premenstrual syndrome). These symptoms include bloating, fatigue, and irritability, as well as a high sense of emotions. It can result in a diagnosis of PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), which creates severe depression and mood disturbances 10-14 days before your period. This depression usually doesn’t improve until the start of a woman’s period.

Pregnancy and infertility can be contributing factors. Unsurprisingly, infertility, miscarriage, or an unwanted pregnancy can cause changes in women’s mood too. New mothers are also more likely to experience low mood after birth, known as postpartum depression. This is thought to be influenced, in part, by hormonal fluctuations. For others, menopause can increase the risk of depression. 

“Women can be more likely to develop depression from stress.”

Women also produce more stress hormones than men. Progesterone prevents the stress hormone system from turning itself off as it usually does for men. This means women can be more likely to develop depression from stress.

Linked to hormones, birth control pills can also increase depression. Personally, I don’t think this is fair, as many women don’t have a choice about going on the pill.

On top of that, women suffer more from body image issues, due to puberty and the pressure exerted by social media. Influencers and weight loss adverts target women in particular to look a certain way. Although body dysmorphia is growing among men, research shows women are impacted the most by body dysmorphic disorder.

More people are suffering from depression

Depression in women has increased over the last decade. In 2012, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported women and younger adults were more likely to feel depressed during the second UK Covid-19 lockdown than men – four in 10 women aged between 16-29 were affected during this time, compared to only 26% of men.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused an increase in depression for the majority of people, regardless of gender. In my experience and that of the people I know, the pandemic has definitely caused mental health issues for many people or resulted in them being left untreated. 

“More needs to be done to tackle mental health for everyone.”

But depression can be helped. It is important for women to open up – be it either to a family member, friend, partner, or therapist. Self-care, exercise and fresh air, and making sure you have regular plans can be the first step in tackling low mood, as well as seeking professional help and medication.

It is clear that women are more likely to suffer from mental health issues than men, due to various factors like hormones, circumstances, and stress. Evidently, more needs to be done to tackle mental health for everyone, but women especially.

If you or a woman you know is suffering from mental health issues, or more specifically depression it is important you can:

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Featured image courtesy of Priscilla Du Preez via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes have been made to this image. 

I am a waitress and writer currently living in London! Graduated last year from the University of Birmingham with a first-class BA English and Creative Writing degree. I am an aspiring young journalist with a love for writing anything related to current affairs, opinion, mental health, food and drink, and travel!

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