Am I likely to develop depression?

Depression knows no barriers. It affects all classes and groups. As you will know if you've completed the Learning Path, depression is more to do with the way you think about things and how you approach life than anything else.

However, men and women have different rates of depression, which is explained by their different thinking styles and emotional makeup.

Depression in men

Over the course of a lifetime a man in Western society (USA, Europe, Australasia etc) has about a one in ten chance of experiencing a major depression. However, a depressed man is much more likely to deal with his depression by committing suicide.

Depression in women

One in four women will experience a significant depression at some point in their lives.

This statistic also accounts for reporting and awareness, which may be greater in woman.

This dramatic difference has been shown to be due to womens' different biological, sociological and psychological makeup. In general, women display greater emotional awareness than men and have a greater propensity to explore feelings, which can make for great empathy with others.

The disadvantages of being ‘more in touch with your emotions’ include greater rates of depression. The strategy of thinking 'why do I feel this way?' is an example of a depressing thought pattern. Women are more likely to introspect than men.

Familial depression

Depression, it appears, runs in families. It could be assumed that this is due to a genetic basis for depression, but this appears to rarely be the case. Although a small proportion of depression has its roots in biology, it is much more likely that depression running in families is due to children learning depressive strategies from their parents.