The Experience of Symptoms of Depression in Men vs Women Analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication
Lisa A. Martin, PhD1; Harold W. Neighbors, PhD2; Derek M. Griffith, PhD3,4
Abstract Excerpt: Until now, women have been diagnosed with depression twice as often as men. This sex ratio appears in almost every setting, including Western and most non-Western community studies. Research exploring this difference suggest reasons the greater risk seen in women for developing depression. However, this study provides the first evidence basis for a more equal rate of depression given different symptomotology. gender socialization can direct some men to withhold or restrict emotional expression, leaving men with limited ways to express their feelings of emotional pain and psychological distress. Therefore, clinicians would need to look at alternative negative outcomes to identify depression in their patients. This study is drawn from a secondary analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Published online August 28, 2013
This is extremely important work and lends credence to the idea that men are under-diagnosed and under-treated for depression. However, with new assessment scales that aren’t biased towards symptoms more common in women, we can begin to save millions of men’s lives.
Agreed. We need to develop a screening tool for men with public health announcements. A nd identify and treat men before they batter, commit suicide, or lose jobs or go to prison.
[…] A new study finds that depression may be far more common in men than previously estimated. […]