Research has indicated that massage therapy lessens depression, in both general clientele and, more specifically, in pregnant women. In new, unrelated research, investigators have found that major depression affects as many as 16 percent of reproductive-aged women in the U.S.—and pregnant women have a higher rate of undiagnosed depression than nonpregnant women.
Jean Ko, Ph.D. and coauthors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “found that more than 1 in 10 women ages 18 to 44 years had a major depressive event during the previous year—representing about 1.2 million U.S. women—but more than half of those women did not receive a diagnosis of depression and nearly half did not receive any mental health treatment,” according to a press release.
The article “Depression and Treatment among U.S. Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women of Reproductive Age, 2005-2009,” further reports that “disparities in receiving a diagnosis and treatment were associated with younger age, belonging to a racial/ethnic minority, and insurance status,” the press release noted.
The study was published in Journal of Women’s Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women’s Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh.
Related articles:
• Research Review Shows Massage Therapy Effectively Addresses Symptoms of Depression
• Massage Benefits Depressed Pregnant Women