Laura Petrillo, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital
Question: Are men or women more likely to become depressed?
Answer: Depression is so common in the general population that both men and women are likely to become depressed at some point.
However, the prevalence of depression is twice as common for women as it is for men. So for women the likelihood of developing a depressive episode is about 20 percent, whereas for men it's about 10 percent. However there are so many other factors that are involved in whether a person might develop a depressive episode that I would caution someone about just relying on gender as the sole risk factor.
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