New Survey Takes Closer Look at Mormon Women & Depression

In a new survey provided by Jana Reiss for Religion News, the link between Mormon women and depression in America was reexamined. It has been accepted by many people within and outside the Church that Mormon women are more prone to depression and take more medication than other women in the United States. While Reiss’ findings were inconclusive to determining if that idea is true or not, many interesting facts emerged about Mormon women (and men) who take depression medication.

Here are just a few of the statistics:

• 1/5 (21%) of Mormons sampled (men and women) take depression medication
• 27% of women take medication, while only 14.5% of men do
• Women who labeled themselves as “very active” are less likely to report taking medication (22.5%) compared to those who are “not active at all” (35%)
• Divorced women were twice as likely to take medication than married women (41% vs. 23%)
• Never-married women were at 34% for taking medication

You can see the full results of the survey here.

Though the data is inconsistent, Reiss revealed other surveys that state Mormon women may actually be lower than the national average for women and that women are twice as likely than men to develop major depression. Overall, the findings were meant to dispel some of the generalizations made about mental health among Mormons.

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