Everyone has occasional bad moods, according to Brown University's Psychological Services, but a down feeling that lasts more than a week or two is classified as depression. Clinical depression, according to Brown's Psychological Services, can "change one's feelings, behavior, physical health and appearance." Midlife, without a specific medical definition but generally defined as the period between early adulthood and old age, is a prime time for depression.
Symptoms of Depression
Barbara Davis, Ph.D., associate professor at the Pennsylvania State College of Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension, outlines weight gain, gray hair, modifications in sleep patterns and physical health as midlife changes that might lead to feelings of depression.
Female Depression
A decade-long study of female depression presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association by Joyce Bromberger, Ph.D., of the Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, found that stress created the first periods of depression for females. Death of a family member, job loss, divorce, and family and marital problems were triggers for female depression. Health and menopause created additional stressors that led to depression episodes, according to the study.
Male Depression
Men's Health Forum, a health website supervised by general practitioner and health author Ian Banks, M.D., links loss of sex drive and feelings of irritability, impotence and fatigue as partners to midlife depression. Males may also feel a sense of urgency during periods of depression. Night sweats, muscle stiffness, hair loss, dry skin and an inability to quickly recover from injuries are all linked to male depression.
Depression Treatment
Davis notes that life changes during midlife require rethinking and re-evaluation and that dealing with changes may require professional assistance. Treatment for depression involves psychological counseling under the direction of a psychiatrist or psychologist (also known as psychotherapy) and drug therapy. The Mayo Clinic reports that these two treatments are successful for most people, and the most effective procedure involves a combination of drugs and mental health counseling. Drug therapy includes the use of antidepressants and MAO inhibitors, including Cymbalta, Pristiq, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Remeron, Desyrel, Parnate and Nardil.
Expert Insight
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center followed a group of over 7,000 middle-aged adults from 1992 through 2006. The study discovered that nearly half the adults with depression symptoms at the beginning of the study had significant problems with carrying out the usual activities involved in day-to-day living. Nearly 45 percent also had difficulties with mobility. Kenneth Covinsky, M.D., M.P.H., study lead, reported that even with an adjustment for physical condition, age, gender, health issues and economic status, there was a significant "link between depression and increased risk of later disability."
References
- World Psychiatry; The Unique Challenges of Managing Depression in Midlife Women; Lorraine Dennerstein and Claudio Soares; Oct. 2008
- UCSF: Depression in Midlife Linked With Disability in Old Age
- Brown University Psychological Services: Depression
- Penn State; Charting Your Course at Midlife; Barbara Davis, Ph.D.
- Mayo Clinic: Depression Treatment
