Managing depression in women

LIFE is full of emotional ups and downs. But when the "down" times are long-lasting or interfere with an individual's ability to function, that person may be suffering from a common, but serious psychological problem - depression
Clinical depression affects one’s physical well-being, resulting in chronic fatigue, sleep problems, and changes in appetite. It affects one’s mood resulting in feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness and dysphoria. It also affects the way a person thinks, interfering with their concentration and decision-making, behaviour, increases irritability and loss of temper, social withdrawal, and a reduction in a person’s desire to engage in pleasurable activities.
Information Online indicates that women are more likely to become depressed than men and this assertion was buttressed by the Deputy Director of Nursing Services and Quality Assurance Co-ordinator at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Mr David H. Macauley.
According to him, depression among women topped admissions at the hospital in 2008.
He said of the 1,676 women who were admitted to the hospital, 355 suffered from depression while 43 suffered from alcohol and drug abuse-related cases.
He said most of the women who were responding positively to treatment needed to be monitored because they often attempted suicide, particularly when they were about to be discharged and pointed out that the hospital needed adequate facilities for the upkeep of such women.
Mr Macauley observed that women needed love and attention and thus had to be pampered always, stressing that women who were frequently visited by their husbands and children recovered quickly.
“In situations whereby the men are the cause the women feel so loved when the men visit”, he said.
He commended men whose wives were on admission for the responsibility they showed by visiting and encouraged them to do better especially when they (women) were going through such difficult times.
According to him, the most disturbing situation was when women with babies had to be separated.
He said due to the tender nature of women it became very difficult for the nurses to take the babies away from their mothers.
He said this was done to prevent mothers who were suffering from very strong ailment from killing their babies.
He recalled an incident last year when a woman who was suffering from mental ailment was spotted on the streets with a baby at her back.
“I saw her drinking water from a very dirty tap. What excited me the most was that after she had quenched her thirst she bought a sachet of water for her baby who was crying at her back.
“When I got to the office I told the Medical Director and we went for her because we realised that it was better if we treated her. When we brought her to the hospital she refused to give the baby to us”, he said.
The Deputy Director said the hospital recorded a higher number of depression among women traders who were ejected from the streets, since the exercise came as a shock to the traders, particularly the women who had no support from their husbands.
He said the situation put the hospital under so much stress in terms of infrastructure and food and called on the government and families to help support women who were suffering from mental ailment.
Mr Macauley said there was a thin line between normality and abnormality and therefore advised the public to desist from shunning women who had been treated for mental illness and discharged.
“When they are brought home let us allow them to play their motherly roles again by allowing them to cook and take care of their families. But we should not overwork them. At least eight hours rest a day is enough”, he said.
He entreated men to handle women with love and attention and encouraged them to cultivate the habit of buying beautiful and attractive presents like flowers for their women.
“Women are very sensitive; all they need from men is love and nothing else”, he said.
The Technical Officer of the hospital, Mrs Agnes Tawiah, said facilities at all the mental hospitals in the country were outmoded.
“Some of these patients sometimes become very wild to the extent that they bump into us unexpectedly, creating all sorts of dangers for us but with our training we manage to keep them”, she said.
She appealed to the government and the public to help provide the hospital with the needed infrastructure to enable them provide patients with quality health treatment.