Men Equally Depressed As Women: Study

Men are just as likely to get depressed as women, a study reveals. The research added a few more symptoms of the disorder more typical to men.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University conducted tests for the feasibility with two new checklists to which a  few more symptoms were added to accurately diagnose depression in men and women. They studied around 5,700 American adults who were involved in a mental health study conducted by Harvard Medical School.

The researchers measured depression using a scale designed to asses depression symptoms common among men. The results showed that about 26 percent men and about 22 percent women met the depression criteria.

"Paying attention to a couple of these other symptoms allowed men who didn't really meet the threshold of symptoms to be considered," Lisa Martin, the study's lead author told Reuters Health. "Right now we're in an interesting place where clinicians and some research say we really need to pay attention to (alternative depression symptoms)," she said.

The results also showed that when both traditional and alternative symptoms were considered, men and women met the criteria for depression. Around 30.6 percent of men and 33.3 percnet of the women in the study classified as depressed.

The study noted that around 16 percent of the US population is affected by depression every year. Apart from being expensive, the illness can be debilitating.

"When it comes to depression in men, to some extent we have blinders on... We have not been asking about and taking into account a range of symptoms that may be gender-specific,"psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Leuchter, who studies depression at the UCLA, said.