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New research shows how men and women experience depression very differently

Photo credit: Emma Kim / Getty
Photo credit: Emma Kim / Getty

From NetDoctor

We've known for a while now that women are more likely to develop depression than men – in fact by age 15, girls are twice as likely to experience the mental illness.

But now research from neuroscientists at the University of Cambridge have found that being female not only increases the likelihood of depression but also the way in which it manifests.

Stylist.co.uk reports that whether you are male or female can also affect how the disorder manifests and its consequences.

"Men are more liable to suffer from persistent depression, whereas in women depression tends to be more episodic," explains Jie-Yu Chuang, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, and an author on the study, which was recently published in Frontiers in Psychiatry. "Compared with women, depressed men are also more likely to suffer serious consequences from their depression, such as substance abuse and suicide."

Chuang and her colleagues looked at around 150 adolescents during their research, 106 of them female. Volunteers included 82 female and 24 male patients who suffered from depression, and 24 healthy females and 10 healthy males.

The researchers imaged the adolescents' brains using magnetic resonance imaging, while flashing happy, sad or neutral words on a screen in a specific order.

Participants were asked to respond to sets of words by pressing a button while the team monitored how their brains reaction to the activity. They noticed that depression affected the brain activity of boys and girls in different ways.

"Our finding suggests that early in adolescence, depression might affect the brain differently between boys and girls," explains Chuang. "Sex-specific treatment and prevention strategies for depression should be considered early in adolescence. Hopefully, these early interventions could alter the disease trajectory before things get worse."

Further research is needed but Chuang and her team hope that this initial research will change the way health professionals treat mental illness in the different sexes and hopefully make it more effective.

If you think you may be suffering from depression consult your local GP, you can find out where to find support and advice through mental health charity, Mind.

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