New Report Helps Women Get the Care They Need

What You Can Do about the Disease of Depression

Depression is one of the most treatable diseases doctors see, yet millions of women suffering from the disease are not getting the treatment they need. In the latest issue of the National Women's Health Report: Women & Depression, the National Women's Health Resource Center looks at why that is so and what can be done about it.

In interviews with the Harvard researchers who authored a recent major national study detailing the rampant treatment inadequacies in the area of depression, and in interviews with women who have battled major depression themselves, the National Women's Health Resource Center gets behind the headlines to find out the truth for women and how they can get the help they need.

In the issue, readers hear from women like Esther Nitzberg. It took visits to every therapist and psychiatrist in the small Oregon town where she lives before Ms. Nitzberg finally found what she calls "a straight-talking psychiatrist who is willing to give me low doses of medication in the combinations that really work best for me." Her husband, a family practitioner, for years had remained blind to her depression.

Readers also hears from the experts. "There is a real gender difference," says Carolyn M. Mazure, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and director of women's health research at Yale. Depression affects women almost twice as often as men. Maybe it is that women's hormones affect certain brain chemicals that regulate mood. Maybe it is that life's stresses -- the death of a spouse, loss of a job or divorce -- affect women differently. Dr. Mazure has found for women, stress is three times more likely to send women into a depression than men. There even may be a genetic component to the response.

"Women and Depression" reports the good news. Gordon found that there are ways women can get the care they need. They are in the 8-page newsletter "Women and Depression." There is a list of questions women should ask their health care provider. There is a guide to the antidepressant medications now on the market. Readers get insight into how depression affects women at various stages of their lives.

The National Women's Health Resource Center is the nation's leading independent, nonprofit organization specifically dedicated to educating women of all ages about health and wellness issues. Its Web site, fmxhosting.com/drupal635, is a one-stop shop for women's health.

For a free copy of "Women and Depression," call 877-986-9472 or log on to fmxhosting.com/drupal635, the Web site of the National Women's Health Resource Center.

For more information:
Beverly Dame, 888-406-9472

Order your free copy of the National Women's Health Report, "Women and Depression," here.