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Postnatal depression
About half of all new mothers feel sad, angry, emotional and irritable after giving birth. Such feelings are perfectly normal and mostly disappear after a week or two. However, if those feelings are very intense or if they keep on lasting, it might be a matter of postnatal depression. In that case, the new mother manifests little interest in her baby, a low self-esteem, agitation and suicidal thoughts. Postnatal depression is generally due to large hormonal fluctations which influence your mood and hence make you susceptible to depression.
Premenopause and menopause
Women are more likely to develop a depression in premenopause, the period which announces the menopause. During that time, there are enormous fluctuations in the hormone level. Most women with menopausal complaints do not suffer from depression. However, women with sleeping problems during menopause or women who have gone through a depression before, are more liable to get depressed. A hysterectomy, the removal of the uterus, is surgery which causes menopause very suddenly, and causes big mood swings, sometimes even depression
Social and cultural factors
Not only women’s biology causes a higher depression percentage, but social and cultural stress factors can play a role as well. With men, such factors are less prominent. The responsability for the family usually rests on women’s shoulders, apart from their normal daily activities. They generally have a lower income, and might already have a history of sexual or physical abuse. After a divorce, the children usually end up with the mother, who has to keep everything up and running. All those elements make a woman more susceptible to depression, especially if she has already gone through a depression once before.
Work pressure
Usually, women have a full-time job and assume all the household chores. Single women with children often take on another job to make both ends meet. The care of sick children or parents often ends up with women as well. All those tasks make them more likely to develop a depression.
Sexual and physical abuse
Women who have been emotionally, physically or sexually abused during childhood, are much more liable to suffer from depression at a later age. Women who were raped or abused as a teenager, also belong to the risk group as an adult.
Depressed women regard their situation as hopeless and do not think they can ever be helped. They presume they will simply have to learn how to live with it, although they must not give up hope. Many women respond very well to the Bach flower treatment. Should you want to know more about it, click “depression”. |
