A consultant at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Adefolarin Malomo, on Tuesday said one out of every five women would likely develop depression at some point in life.
Malomo, a neuro-surgeon, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said that depression could occur at any age, but that it was most common in women between the ages of 49 and 59.
He explained that it was possible to develop depression with or without risk factors, and stressed that the more risk factors one had, the more likelihood of developing depression.
“More women are likely to be diagnosed with depression than men, but this may be due in part because women are more likely to seek treatment.
“Certain personality traits such as low self-esteem and being too dependent, self-critical or pessimistic more often lead to depression.
“Traumatic or stressful events, such as physical or sexual abuse, death or loss of a loved one or financial problems may also lead to depressive traits in women.
“Childhood trauma or depression that started when a child was younger, blood relatives with history of depression, alcoholism, bipolar disorder can also lead to depression,‘’ the consultant said.
He told NAN that a history of mental health disorders, such as anxiety disorder, eating disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder could also cause depression.
Malomo added that abuse of alcohol or illicit drugs, serious chronic illness like stroke and hypertension were also causative factors for depression.
He advised patients to seek medical help on time so as to nip the disease in the bud, saying that most patients of depression usually sought medical help when it was too late.
He said that prevention of all the symptoms was the best way to treat depression but added that medications and therapies were available for its treatment.
NAN
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