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The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

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Crying as a gendered indicator of depression.

Sarah E Romans¹, Rose F Clarkson

¹Women's College Research Institute, Toronto, Canada. sarah.romans@wchospital.ca

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

|March 15, 2008

Summary

Crying is more common in women, potentially skewing depression diagnoses. This study suggests removing crying as a depression symptom to reduce gender bias in mental health assessments.

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Area of Science:

Psychiatry
Gender Studies
Mental Health Assessment

Background:

Crying is recognized as a gendered behavior, with women crying more frequently than men in the general population.
Crying is also a symptom associated with depression, potentially contributing to observed gender disparities in depression rates.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the validity of crying as an indicator for depression.
To investigate the potential gender bias introduced by including crying in depression diagnostic criteria.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on crying, gender, and depression.
Analysis of diagnostic criteria for depression and common assessment instruments.

Main Results:

Crying's gendered nature may invalidate it as a universal depression indicator.
Exclusion of crying could reduce gender bias in depression assessment.

Conclusions:

Crying should be reconsidered for inclusion in depression diagnostic criteria due to its gendered status.
Alternative gender-neutral symptoms, like aggression and irritability in men, may be more reliable indicators of depression.