Course Description:

This course is based on a publication of the National Institute of Mental Health about depression affecting women.  It provides an overview of depression by discussing its forms, symptoms, causes, co-occurring illnesses, and manifestations in younger versus older women.  This course includes an overview of the pharmacological and non pharmacological treatments which are commonly used to treat depression.  Additional information is provided on diagnosis procedures and crisis intervention methods.  This publication is written in simple terms making the concepts easy to grasp.  It serves as an excellent resource for mental health professionals who would like to build or refresh their knowledge about depression affecting women. 

Psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists can benefit from this course. This course may also be helpful for other practitioners, such as midwives and dieticians and nutritionists who work with women who may be at risk for depression.  This course is appropriate for beginning and intermediate level practitioners who do not know a lot about depression affecting women and who wish to develop their clinical skills in this area.

Author: National Institute of Mental Health

Learning Objectives:  This course will provide a professional with an overview of depression in women. Specifically, a professional will:

• Identify the forms of depression, symptoms, causes, and co-occurring illnesses.
• Understand the issues that are particular to women dealing with depression.
• Describe the pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for depression, their effectiveness, and possible side effects.

Citation:  National Institute of Mental Health (2008). Women and Depression: Discovering Hope.

Course description and examination by Bianca Perez, M.S.

Reviewed by TM DiDona, PhD 2018 and found to be current.  Updated references include:

• Avila, J., Chelvakumar, G., & Ford, N. (2017). Gender and Sexual Minorities Cultural Competency Training for Pediatric Residents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 60(2), S87.
• Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E., & Owusu Ananeh-Firempong, I. I. (2016). Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Public health reports.
• Bleidorn, W., Arslan, R. C., Denissen, J. J., Rentfrow, P. J., Gebauer, J. E., Potter, J., & Gosling, S. D. (2016). Age and gender differences in self-esteem—A cross-cultural window. Journal of personality and social psychology, 111(3), 396.
• Donaldson, W. V., & Vacha-Haase, T. (2016). Exploring staff clinical knowledge and practice with LGBT residents in long-term care: A grounded theory of cultural competency and training needs. Clinical Gerontologist, 39(5), 389-409.
• Rosenkrantz, D. E., Black, W. W., Abreu, R. L., Aleshire, M. E., & Fallin-Bennett, K. (2017). Health and health care of rural sexual and gender minorities: A systematic review. Stigma and Health, 2(3), 229.
• Tan, J. Y., Xu, L. J., Lopez, F. Y., Jia, J. L., Pho, M. T., Kim, K. E., & Chin, M. H. (2016). Shared decision making among clinicians and Asian American and Pacific Islander sexual and gender minorities: An intersectional approach to address a critical care gap. LGBT health, 3(5), 327-334.