An important thread in understanding the higher rates of depression in women than in men. It may not be Anime related but it is so important to dispel the misconceptions surrounding this topic bc so many people assume it's bc women are more emotional. Pls retweet.

1. Depression is a serious mental disorder that comes in different forms. I'm not gonna go into its symptoms, I'm sure that's widely known, but it's an easy Google search away. Granted it's more complex than what Google will tell you but you can get a basic idea.

2. To start off, depression classifies as a "mood disorder", along with its multiple types and with bipolar disorders and manic disorders. Since depression consists of a singular mood state, unlike bipolar, it is called a unipolar disorder. And while bipolar disorders occur in +

equal rates among genders, depression occurs at staggering higher rates (70% of depressed ppl are women).

3. It has genetic, biological, psychological, cognitive, behavioral, & social factors. For this thread in particular I will discuss the social part, bc it deals a lot +

with society n women.

4. Another thing to note about depression, is that a primary reason it arises is from feeling a lack of control over your world, after experiencing stressful events. You feel helpless and hopeless ab yourself, the world, and in changing future outcomes.

5. This lack of control also predicts anxiety, and the gender imbalance in depression exists around the world. But anyway let's start with these important social factors.

6. Gender differences in the development of mood disorders are strongly influenced by perceptions of +

uncontrollabiliy. If you feel a mastery over your life and the difficult events you encounter, you'll experience occasional stress but you will not feel the helplessness central to anxiety and mood disorders. The source of these differences is cultural in the roles we assign to +

men and women. Men are strongly encouraged to be independent, masterful, and assertive but women are expected to be more passive, sensitive to other people, and to rely on others more. This way of raising kids and expectations on their behavior as adults puts women at higher +

risks for mood disorders by increasing their sense of uncontrollability and helplessness.

7. Parenting styles encouraging gender stereotypic roles are implicated in the development of early psychological vulnerability to later depression and anxiety. Specifically, a smothering +

overprotective style that prevents the child from developing initiative.

8. Sudden surge in depression among girls after hitting puberty. In childhood and after the age of 65, rates of depression among men and women are the same. It's after puberty that it increases for +

women and young girls. It used to be thought as a biologically based phenomenon but now it is clear that that's not necessarily the case. It's also social. Girls experience drops in self esteem in middle school onwards, as it's been reported that, overall, women have less self+

esteem than men, which also relates to how you raise kids bc young boys are taught the above-mentioned things ab themselves rather than girls. As well, at this stage, women experience self-image issues, and while these things can affect both girls and boys, girls will +

still develop more depression. As well, it happens a great deal when girls enter new schools, bc they find it more stressful and as I mentioned, girls feel higher senses of uncontrollability. Also girls who mature early physically have more distress and depression than girls +

that don't, bc their early maturation subjects them to jealousy and rejection as well as harassment.

9. Women place greater value on intimate relationships, which acts as a protective factor, but at the same time if disruptions in these relations occur, combined with an +

inability to cope, seems far more damaging to women than men.

10. Tendency in teen girls to express aggression to other girls by rejection combined with a sensitivity to rejection may precipitate more depressive episodes in teen girls compared with boys. This happens bc +

throughout our evolutionary past, bc women were put below men, women had to compete amongst each other to earn men's favor for their survival and the survival of their offspring.

11. Women tend to ruminate and blame themselves for their situation and being depressed more than +

men. This response to stress predicts later development of depression when under stress. Men on the other hand tend to ignore their feelings and distract themselves by doing other things, which acts as a protective factor against depression and is in fact a common element in +

successful therapy (keeping yourself busy helps).

12. Women face more stressful events. Stress is positively associated with depression. Women face more discrimination, poverty and sexual harassment/abuse than do men. Single moms have a hard time entering the workplace.

13. What important to note in men is that disorders related to aggression, overactivity and substance abuse occur far more often in men, which can be seen as their negative way of coping with difficult emotions and stress

14. Maternal depression predicts depression in their +

children, but in teenagers, in girls more often.

15. Bad marital relationships, divorced women are 3 times more depressed than those that stayed in their marriages vs. divorced men who are 9 times more depressed than those that stayed in their marriages. It can be concluded +

that clearly staying in a marriage, even a bad one, is more important for men than for women.

But anyways, it's important to note that these factors aren't the only things associated to depression. Ppl should typically have biological/psychological vulnerabilities as well to

develop depression. 2 ppl may go through the same stressful event but that doesn't mean both will develop depression. If you have a strong social support and other means to cope in a healthy way, you can be protected from depression, or cope with it. As well, not everyone with

depression, will have it the same, and the above mentioned cannot be generalized to the entire female population. Nonetheless, we should parent our girls differently and battle sexism for the sake of our mental health.

Thanks for reading!