Opinion Shack
The wilderness of Woman’s Outer Side
The other day I was having a coffee with my friend and we both were deep in our own thoughts. Despite being in each other’s company, it seemed were in our own little world that world was not looking happy! It was raining outside and in the darkness of that depressive sky I just blurted out, “I really cannot see out there. Like a barbed wire there are tough signs to stop from touching what I want. The darkness engulfs my vision. The fog across my balcony fighting its way in.” She stared at me and started pouring out herself, “I feel the same! sometimes I wonder does the same or similar emotions prevail in the other sex as well. If yes, what is the intensity or continuity of these depressive feeling among them in general?” While talking with each other I realised, the need to study the difference in level of depression among different genders is continuous since it helps in studying the behavioural pattern of both especially women.
I am one among them, so the need to study its presence in females is more obvious to attain my own peace of mind! Depression can come at any stage irrespective of age. Some mood swings may be due to regular hormonal imbalances or changes, but they are accompanied by several other biological factors, genetic traits. Many times, lots of personal situations and issues also pave way for feelings of depression. In fact, almost more than 1 in 10 amongst us have these symptoms of depressions in one year and almost 1 in 8 receive medical aid and get dependent on antidepressants. This thought that came to me out of wild has a great necessity to be studied, I feel, or perhaps touched upon because it is believed in general that women experience it twice more then men. State of mind seem to be affecting them more compared to the physical health problems. I don’t know how far it is true but as I put myself in the position, I find it worth a try to focus on it! In fact, in 1970, the difference in gender related depression was first tapped upon by Myra Weissman. She put forward those females are the ones to experience depression twice as much as males. Despite these findings there is still relatively low stress put on this great topic of worry. W lay less stress on firstly the diagnosis of gender-specific depressiveness. Also, there is a very low chance that we focus our interest on the kind and state of symptoms of depression.
The graph moves from the age of being child till one grows up. This gender difference can be universal or can be cultural, socio-political, religion specific. Whatever may be the difference, we need to look for explanation for the pattern in which we see this depression throughout our lifespan as women. The unconsciously prevalent feeling of uncertainty, leading to vulnerability arise during the adolescence mostly. This is the stage where the gender difference mostly starts registering along with other age-related complexes that creep up. The constant stress, physical changes, hormonal, and neurodevelopmental variations that occur and many times elaborate further to bring about this feeling of depression among girls. This may at on time or the other may get triggered due to various physical, social, societal, cultural, familial factors and take the shape and name of ‘depression’ in grown up women. This then develops further and consistently stays as a major difference between genders throughout our lifespan.
For this an open-ended developmental method needs to be acquired, so that we can understand the pattern of difference and growth of the depression in both men and women, to understand the transitions in women. The difference in level of depression among different genders may also be a result of health conditions as well as various psychological turbulences that take their toll on us as women more for, we consider our conditions many times to have a greater and graver in their magnitude since the pressure to be that perfect, patient and adjusting self under any given circumstances closes around us from all possible sides.
