Women are worst hit by depression- Expert

A psychiatrist with the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Pleatue State, Nigeria, Dr. Friday Philip, has said that women were more prone to depression because they do not share their problems with others.

Women tend to keep more to themselves when they have issues bothering them. They hardly share their worries like men do, Philip said today in Jos.

He spoke at a seminar organised by AFRICAMSI, an NGO, to sensitise people on depression and its effects on the society.

The seminar had the theme: “African Woman: Managing The Evil of Stress, Depression and Suicide in the 21st Century”.

Philip advised people with symptoms of depression to promptly seek medical help.

When a person gets extremely sick, most likely the individual will see a doctor; similarly, seeing a psychiatrist means the patient needs help and advice.

Unfortunately, in our society, going to a psychiatrist often suggests to family members that the patient is insane or a lunatic, he said.

He said that keeping mental challenge to oneself was “highly detrimental to health”, noting that many lives had been lost because of such attitude.

People hardly seek help for mental challenges because of the stigma usually associated with such situations. Unfortunately, by the time the challenge is discovered, it is usually too late, he said.