Causes of Depression Among Women

Women from various walks of life can get depressed. A girl child, an adolescent teenager, a women in threshold of her life, a married women, a mother or an aging women can go through a depressive episode.  The prevalence of depression among women is especially high due to the roles and duties assigned to them.

Apart from the social roles like playing the mother, wife, care giver, protector, being the ideal daughter etc., women are also a part of a partial and competitive professional world. This creates a pressure on women and does not allow a channel to express their creativity and enhance their personality.

Due to the lack of an outlet for their emotions, desires and feelings, women lead stifled lives. Unsupportive family prior to marriage can cause a lot of emotional trauma, feeling of being neglected, of not be loved and cared for, and this can cause sadness, frustration, restlessness, hopelessness, poor self image and can lead to depression.

Married women also may get depressed in initial years of marriage if they are unable to cope and adjust to the new family. Lack of support and free atmosphere, rigid traditions and customs, too many expectations from the in laws, lack of privacy, interfering in laws, no outlet for expressing feelings etc can cause depression among married women.

Many a times dissatisfaction in relationships can be a cause of depression. This may happen more so if the marriage is not by choice or occurs without the bride and groom spending more time with each other before marriage. There may be incompatibility in various aspects, and lack of an understanding, mature, supportive, sensitive and loving husband can lead to depression.

Issues like infertility, pressure to bear a child, menopause and other bodily changes that a women undergoes in a lifetime also affects her psyche and can be a contributing factor to depression.

Depression could also be a result of having to balance the personal life and professional life thoroughly. Women try to manage these affairs at their best, however, feelings of guilt, neglect, dissatisfaction, and stress could lead to depression.