Gender
Gender is a partial but incomplete explanation of why people may develop depression. Equal
numbers of men and women develop melancholic depression. However, studies have shown
that there is a much greater likelihood of women developing non-melancholic depression
than men. Some of the explanations for this are:
• Women are more likely than men to ‘internalise’ stress, thereby putting them at greater
risk of developing depression
• Women with unsatisfactory marriages or who are caring for a number of young children
are also highly over represented among samples of depressed people
• Hormonal factors commencing in puberty may account for the increased chance in
women of developing anxiety (a precursor to depression) or depression