Women and Depression: Everything You Need to Know

Why this resource is helpful:

"Depression doesn"t discriminate; it can affect anyone and everyone. But unfortunately, if you"re a woman, you"re at higher risk for developing depression: approximately twice as many women are diagnosed with depression as men.

Here is your complete guide for everything you need to know about how and why depression affects so many women around the world.

The Facts: Women and Depression
Approximately 12 million women battle depression each year.
Twice as likely as men to develop major depressive disorder. Some reports indicate that women are up to three times more likely to experience depression.
Depression is the top reason why women seek therapy.
Up to 1 in every 4 women will experience at least one major depressive episode in her lifetime.
Around 10 percent of women in the U.S. experience depression.
The ages of 18 and 45 account for the largest proportion of U.S. adults with depression.
Have higher rates of seasonal affective disorder and bipolar depression than men.
Women who identify as part of the LGBTQ community experience depression at higher rates than heterosexual women.
Transgender women are particularly at risk: transgender women suffer from depression at rates 5 times higher than the general population.
Women of Color experience higher rates of depression than white women in the United States.
What Causes Depression?
The numbers are sobering but why is this happening? So far, scientists haven"t found one specific gene or reason we can point to and say, that"s what causes depression. Experts think that depression is caused by a combination of different factors. When thinking about women and depression specifically, it"s important to consider not only what causes depression, but also what, specifically, causes women to experience higher rates of depression than men.

Biological Factors
There is a growing base of scientific evidence that links depression to a whole host of biological changes in the brain. In many cases, depression can be associated with loss of brain gray matter (or brain shrinkage) Additionally, our brains also don"t release the appropriate balance of certain neurotransmitters, like serotonin and dopamine, when we"re sick with depression.

People with female reproductive organs also have an additional biological factor that may lead to depression: hormonal changes. Depression can be caused by changes that happen during a woman"s life, like pregnancy, menstruation, and menopause. We"ll talk more about these specific types of depression in the next section."

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