HOME JOURNAL HEALTH QUIZ - 7

About how many women experience clinical depression at least once in their lives?

1. 10 percent
2. 15 percent
3. 20 percent
4. 25 percent

You are correct if you answered: 20 percent

"There are three main risk factors for depression: a previous episode of depression, a family history and being a woman," says Mary Blehar, Ph.D., director of women's mental health programs at the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health. "For reasons that are not entirely clear, women are on average twice as likely as men to suffer from depression." Other factors, such as marital problems or parenting stress, may also elevate risk.

There is more than one type of depression; clinical depression causes hopelessness so profound that the sufferer can lose interest in life, is incapable of feeling pleasure, and sometimes can't even get out of bed or eat for days at a time. People with minor depression (dysthymia), by contrast, function at impaired levels and experience low-level symptoms of major depression. Serious depression raises the risk for suicide, which is the fifth-leading cause of death for women ages 25 to 44.

"Depression is a disorder, not a personal failure, that can be effectively treated," says Blehar. "Medication and psychotherapy can help. If you feel depressed, and especially if you've had any thoughts of suicide, consult your physician immediately."

Home Journal