For any animal to function effectively, the nerve cells in the brain must communicate. Each nerve cell is separated by small gaps. "Neurotransmitters" send messages to a "receptor" on the other side of the gap. It works like a jigsaw puzzle: each neurotransmitter fits into a conforming receptor. When the level of neurotransmitters is low, messages break down and communication slows considerably. From research, it seems that depression is strongly related to what's taking place at these connections. (See http://webmd.lycos.com/content/dmk/dmk_a... for more information.)
Clearly, social factors also impact on a woman's tendency to have depression. It is not surprising that more women (and--as we saw in the last article-adolescent girls) have low self-esteem, tend to put blame on themselves for others' actions, and take on an excessive amount of responsibilities-mother, wife, housekeeper, employee, den mother, caregiver to ailing parents, etc., etc., etc. And if women begin to feel the warning signs of depression, they are so busy taking care of everyone else they don't take care of themselves. It's a wonder that their aren't even more depressed women!
Depression is often associated with a trauma or major change in one's life, which makes the person more psychologically susceptible to the disease. Mary, age 31, was raised in a household where her mother and father both suffered from depression. She married at an early age and went through a divorce several years later. She then began rearing her children on her own-with little or no financial support from the father. Although having minor depression a few times during her life, she hadn't experienced a major depression.
Then her son became very ill and had to be hospitalized several times, with no assurance that he would recover. Mary started declining-getting more and more anxious, frustrated and depressed. Her son finally improved, but the damage was done. She admitted herself to a psychiatric center for treatment.
