Depression : the Challenge on 21st Century Women Essay

DEPRESSION : A CHALLENGE ON 21ST CENTURY WOMEN The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank discovered that depression is the fourth most disabling disease in the world, and is predicted to be the second largest contributor to the overall disease burden by 2020. Women experience depression twice as often as men. The ratio of 2:1 in depression between women and men has been consistent between different epidemiological studies over time (Bebbington, Dunn, Jenkin, Lewis, Brugha, Farell,& Meltzer, 1998). Surveys on clinical and general population show consistent results. Over the course of a lifetime, depression occurs in approximately 20% of women compared with 10% of men. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) study in 1980 shows a lifetime depression of 10.2% in the general population, of which 70% are women and 30% men (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1990). According to the survey on psychiatric morbidity in Malaysian adults in 1996 (Maniam, Ding, Lim, Toh, Aziz et al., 1997), using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) administered to 35,733 respondents aged 16 years and above, depression and anxiety were the main psychological symptoms reported. The estimated prevalence of emotional disorders was higher in women (10.5%) as compared to men (8.5%), with higher rates reported in Negeri Sembilan and other states in East Peninsular including Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Sabah. The highest rate was reported among widows (29.1%) and divorcees (20.5%). On these centuries, women are facing too much problem that might cause a depression among them. A family is members are the people who we almost closed and see every day. However, on this decade, there are large populations with women’s become independent. Some always left at home by husband and children’s who going to work, schools, and study overseas or getting married again. From an interview with Pn.Nor, she was a independent and hardworking woman. She get the disorder when her brother betrayed her and find out that her husband has remarried somebody else. That is show how family is a main caused to women to get these disorders. Other than that, financial is a real matters. There are a cases from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang, where there is a patient died from suicide. It was a Indian women, she feel sad and has no courage to life because her husband has pass away. With no source of money, she could not send her children to schools, paying tuition, buy household items and such as. At the end, she attempt to suicide. Changing a jobs or workplace also can be a factor. Some management need their workers increased their sale, assets and such as in limited time. Co-workers like to spread gossips and had negative perceptions towards newbie. In a workplace, women’s get to many problems such as sexual harassment, defamation and others. For some people, a tragic event that happened in recent, or even the distant past still brings great sorrow to them. They allow their minds to dwell on it when they should have let it go long ago so that they can move on with their lives. In life, sad experiences are aplenty: Tragic events are inevitable such as the death of a dearly loved one or unanticipated such as the breakup of an intimate relationship. Social network such as twitter, facebook and myspace had a terrible effect especially on women’s such as teenagers, who often chatting with strangers and a women who been tricked with black money agenda. For a women who facing serious illness on family or herself, it could give impact to them emotionally. There are occupational therapy patient which she could not use her hand properly. It is hard to work when always depend to people. She even could not tie her hair, brush her teeth, cooking or do anything because she could not move or even feel the hand was there.