Prevalence and role of social factors and personal attitude in occurrence of depression in married women in urban and rural areas of district, Amritsar, India

Background: Depression is not "one size fits all," particularly when it comes to the genders. Many factors contribute to the unique picture of depression in women-from reproductive hormones to social pressures to the female response to stress. It is estimated that by the year 2020, the burden of depression will be increased to 5.7% of the total burden of the disease. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted and 1000 married females were selected by systematic random sampling from rural and urban areas of District, Amritsar, India. Pretested and predesigned questionnaire and PHQ9 scale was used to obtain valid results. Results: In this study, 269 women are found to be suffering from depression as per the scale applied. Respondents having no social involvement are more prone to depression (31.1%) and majority of those, who faced some problem in public places, were found to be depressed (28.8%).11.2% women were depressed amongst those who act skilfully in response to a problem. 29.6% amongst those who got panic while 34.7% were found to be depressed amongst those who had an escapist attitude. Conclusions: Awareness through public education, early detection and organized national mental health programs can curb the increasing epidemic of depression.