On the surface this AP report about a US government study that looked at jobs that have the highest rates of depression may seem to have little to do with sex. But as sex researchers have been more deeply investigating over the past decade, for many people mood (depression, anxiety, etc) can have a great deal to do with sex and relationships.

I’d make one correction in regard to how this study was reported vs. how it was actually carried out. The actual study tracked the prevalence of depression in various job categories. It did not look at what jobs “cause” a person to feel depressed or how jobs might “prevent” someone from getting depressed – and yet erroneous statements like this one were made in the AP report: “Just working full-time would appear to be beneficial in preventing depression. The overall rate of depression for full-time workers, 7 percent, compares with the 12.7 percent rate registered by those who are unemployed.”

This interpretation is not necessarily accurate. All we know from this study is that people who work full time have lower rates of depression than unemployed workers. What we know from other studies, however, is that people who are unemployed but who want to find a job tend to feel depressed. After all, they want to find a job (and their famlies may need them to find a job) but they haven’t been able to find one. Then there are also people who – because of debilitating depression or anxiety – cannot hold a job or do not feel motivated to get a job. Suggesting to people that finding a job might improve their mood is not necessarily accurate.

The second issue with this article is not one of accuracy but one of context. The jobs that had the highest rates of depression were jobs that are largely held by women in and out of the homes (i.e., child care, eldery care, and restaurant service staff). The jobs with the lowest rates of depression were jobs more often held by men (i.e., engineering, architects, surveyors). The difference in depression could be related to gender (depression is already more common among women than men), income or the types of hours typical for these jobs. It might also be worth noting that though research suggests we have higher rates of diagnosing depression among women it may be that we are not diagnosing depression well among men as women and men tend to report depression differently. Women, for example, more often report that they cry or feel sad when they are depression. Men – raised in a culture where they were taught not to cry or, if you do cry, not to talk about it – tend to report feeling more irritable or angry.

When I looked at the actual study results and saw that women’s rates of depression were often twice or three times as much as the men’s rates of depression, I thought this should have been emphasized in the media reporting. Those are not small differences. And in terms of sex and relationships, people often wonder why it seems like women – more so than men – are less interested in sex. But when we look at the rates of depression, it’s not that surprising that if more women are depressed, then more women might not have the energy for or interest in sex.

Again, what does this have to do with sex? Everything. I regularly hear from couples of all ages who struggle with issues of desire (like why their partner doesn’t want to have sex as often as they do), arousal, feeling disconnected from each other, or deal with difficulties orgasm. The answers to these problems are sometimes complex and may have to do with how we feel about our jobs (which can take up a huge chunk of our day), stress, family, money – and our general mood and whether we feel depressed or anxious. Understanding more about our mood – and how our jobs relate to our mood – can help us better figure out how to help people with their relationships and sex lives, too.

Check out what the American Psychological Association has to say about depression here.
To find a couples or family therapist in your area, click here.
To find a sex therapist in your area, click here.

Image by Vincent van Gogh via this site.

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