Explaining Biology and Mental Health

Women suffer twice as many bouts of clinical depression compared to men.  Yet, men  are responsible for 75% of suicides in the United States.

Clearly, men suffer as do women, but manifest it differently.  So, why the difference in diagnoses? 

One reason is due to reporting differences.  Women are more likely to report symptoms of depression to clinicians while men tend to give short shrift to their symptoms.  This is not surprising based on even casual observations of men and women.  When men do not report mental health symptoms, they do not enter treatment and this is one cause for the higher suicide rate in men.

The second reason women are more likely than men to suffer from depression is hormones.  A proportion of women suffer from premenstrual depression while others have post-partum depression due to hormone shifts that men do not experience.  In fact, testosterone, which is 5-10 higher in men than in women, is an anxiolytic, a substance that reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms.  The likelihood of depression increases when testosterone drops, as it does in older men.  Indeed, men 75 and older are twice as likely to commit suicide compared to males age 15-24. 

Hormonal variations also influence women’s immune systems so that they won't reject a fetus which has tissues from non-self.  Immune system dysregulation has been associated with depression and is another reason why women are diagnosed with clinical depression at rates higher than men.

Finally, personality traits also matter.  Those who have the trait of neuroticism are more likely to suffer from depression and this personality trait occurs is more common in women compared to men.  Due in part to personality factors, depressed women are more likely to face comorbid anxiety and somatic symptoms as well.  In contrast, men who are depressed are more likely display anger and aggression.

It is incontrovertible that depression is a function of our biology.  So, why isn't there a biological assay to identify depression, especially since men and women typically present with different signs and symptoms. 

Now there is.

Immersion measures the value the brain obtains from social-emotional experiences and we wanted to know if it could identify when people were happy or sad. 

Recently published research from my lab has shown that six or more meticulously defined Immersion troughs strongly indicate one has depressive symptoms.   In this peer-reviewed research, we showed that simply counting the number of neurophysiologic Immersion troughs very accurately predicted low mood and low energy. 

What about happiness?  We showed that when people get four or more peak Immersion experiences that last 3 minutes or longer per day, they are happy and have high energy. If you have six peak Immersion moments, you are building your emotional fitness.  This is the first bioassay that accurately measures thriving.  Knowing which activities increase or decrease thriving is essential in order to make the best decisions for a more fulfilled life. 

All this is done without giving people bothersome tasks to do like journaling or interrupting people every few minutes to ask them to reflect on their moods.  The Immersion platform measures troughs and peaks continuously and objectively so that everyone can better manage their emotional health.

We must reduce the suffering and costs of depression and suicide, for both men and women.  SIX is the only digital bioassay that guides users to live longer, happier, and healthier lives. The basic version of SIX is free and always will be.  Sign up to try it today using the link here!

If you are concerned about self-harm, please phone 988 anywhere in the US to speak to a counsellor in English or en Español.