Depression is a serious mental health condition involving low mood, feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness, loss of motivation, and often issues with sleep and appetite. Depression is beyond just feeling sad, with life-impacting symptoms that last at least a couple of weeks at a time. While some people recover on their own, many need treatment to start feeling better.

Signs of Depression in Women

Depression can look different for everyone, but it typically involves feeling low, worthless or hopeless, and loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities. People also often experience fatigue or low energy, issues with sleep, and physical pain like headaches or joint pain. These symptoms of depression can severely limit your productivity and ability to engage in day-to-day life.

Here are some common signs of depression in women:

• Mood-related symptoms like sadness or anxiety
• Fatigue or decreased energy
• Sleep disturbances
• Difficulty concentrating
• Unexplained physical ailments like joint pain or stomach upset
• Feeling worthless or guilty without cause
• Appetite or weight changes
• Suicidal thoughts or wishing you weren’t alive anymore

If you are feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please reach out for immediate support by contacting your local emergency services, visiting your local emergency room, or calling/texting the National Crisis Hotline at 988.

Depression Symptoms More Likely in Women

While anyone can experience any variety of symptoms, certain depressive patterns are more prominent in women. These include:

• Seasonal impact: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) involves moods that shift with the changing seasons. Typically, people with SAD experience low mood and loss of energy in the winter, though some people have the opposite, with mood dips in the summertime.
• Stronger feelings of guilt and worthlessness: Women with depression are more prone to feeling like they’ve done something wrong or aren’t worthy of support.
• Rumination: Repetitive negative thought patterns that are difficult to interrupt or challenge with positive thoughts.
• Anxiety alongside depression: Women also have a higher prevalence of anxiety, and many women experience both at once.
• Atypical depression: Atypical depression isn’t “abnormal,” it’s just a slightly different presentation of depression symptoms, including heightened rejection sensitivity, excessive sleep, and increased appetite.

Types of Depression Unique to Women

Hormones can significantly impact mood and energy levels, and people who are born female can experience depression due to specific hormone shifts. Menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause can all contribute to depressive symptoms for some women. Additionally, transgender women are more likely to experience depression.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

Beyond typical premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a small number of people who menstruate experience severe mood-related symptoms about a week before their period starts. These can include low mood, anger, and even suicidal thoughts that subside a few days after menstruation begins.¹

Perinatal Depression

Depression can start at any point during pregnancy and the postpartum period. While most people get the “baby blues” after giving birth, peripartum and postpartum depression are much more severe, involving unrelenting sadness, anxiety, fatigue, and guilt. When untreated, perinatal depression can lead to difficulty bonding with the new baby.¹

Perimenopausal Depression

Perimenopause comes with abnormal periods, difficulty sleeping, hot flashes, and mood swings. Some people experience more severe mood changes, including full-blown depression symptoms, around this time.¹

Depression in Trans Women

Transgender women have a higher likelihood of experiencing depression compared to cisgender women, with estimates as high as 62%. This is likely due to a combination of factors, including lack of social support, higher odds of experiencing violence, gender dysphoria, and other social and personal concerns.²

Treatment for Female Depression

Depression is typically treated with therapy, often in combination with medication. A therapist can help you determine any underlying causes and learn new coping strategies, while medication can target underactive brain chemicals, helping reduce depression symptoms from multiple angles.

Treatment for depression can include:

• Therapy: The first-line therapy for depression typically involves cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), often in combination with other modalities like interpersonal therapy (IPT) or dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). CBT helps people understand the connections between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and how making changes to one can boost mood overall.
• Medication: The most common medications for depression are SSRIs and SNRIs, which block the reabsorption of serotonin and norepinephrine, leaving more for the brain to process. A psychiatric prescriber can review your symptoms and determine whether medication would be an appropriate part of your care plan.
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): For people who don’t respond well to medication, this noninvasive procedure uses magnets to stimulate areas of the brain that may be underactive due to depression.
• Spravato®: The first FDA approved nasal spray for hard-to-treat depression, Spravato® is esketamine based, increasing overall activity between neurotransmitters.

How to Cope with Depression

Depression often requires professional treatment, but in addition to working with mental health professionals, there are lots of ways you can support yourself to help cope with symptoms. Make sure you carve out plenty of time for rest, prioritize nourishing foods, and move your body regularly.

Here are some ways to support yourself through depression:

• Reach out for support: Depression can often make people feel alone and isolated, so it’s important to consciously combat these feelings. Reach out to a trusted friend or loved one and tell them what you’ve been going through. It could also be a good idea to ask a few people to check in on you regularly and continue engaging in social activities as much as you’re able.
• Do what you can for your physical health: Depression can seriously impact motivation, making it harder to take care of yourself. However, some of the things that can help mitigate symptoms are proper sleep, eating nutritious foods, and moving your body regularly. Even when it’s difficult, any little steps you take toward caring for your physical health can help create a positive upward spiral in your mood.
• Develop a “wellness toolbox”: Having a “toolbox” or “menu” of coping skills you can reach for when you’re feeling low can take some of the decision making out of the recovery process. This might include downloading an app with guided meditations, nice bath bombs, some go-to yoga videos, or easy nutritious meals or snacks that you don’t have to think about.
• Get plenty of rest: Depression can often cause people to sleep either too much or too little. Even if you can’t fall asleep or stay asleep at night, sticking to a strict bedtime routine can help your body get back into a natural rhythm.
• Get daily sunlight: Vitamin D can boost mood and energy levels, so spending a few minutes in the sun or with a light therapy box can help, especially if you have seasonal depression.
• Challenge your negative thinking: Depression can cause rumination and negative thought spirals. It can help to start noticing these thoughts, then interrupting and challenging them.

Supporting a Woman with Depression

It can be difficult to know when and how to help a loved one who’s dealing with depression. The best thing you can do is often just to make yourself available and listen when they’re ready to share how they’ve been feeling. Don’t try to “fix it,” just sit with them and continue showing up, even if you hear from them less than usual.

Here are some tips for supporting a woman who’s dealing with depression:

• Encourage her to seek professional treatment, offering to schedule or drive her to appointments.
• Depression often makes someone feel worthless, so remind her of her positive qualities and what you admire about her.
• Offer practical support, such as helping with meals, laundry, and other housework.
• Invite her to go on walks or other gentle, low-engagement activities with you.
• Find other helpful organizations or support groups that could offer additional support.
• Encourage mindfulness practices, like yoga and meditation. You could invite her to a yoga class or to do an at-home video with you on a regular basis.

How Northeast Health Services Can Help

Northeast Health Services is committed to providing comprehensive mental health treatment to our neighbors across Massachusetts. Each of our clinics offers therapy and medication services, and our experts collaborate on each client’s care to ensure they’re getting the best support possible.

If you’re ready to seek depression treatment, you can call 508.794.8711 or schedule your first appointment today.

 

Footnotes:

1. Depression in Women: 4 Things to Know. (2023). National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-in-women
2. Hoffman B. (2014). An Overview of Depression among Transgender Women. Depression research and treatment, 2014, 394283. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/394283