Research into the symptoms of depression has concluded that females suffer higher levels of fatigue than men, who undergo a greater loss of sex drive than members of the opposite gender.
A team at Kyungpook National University's School of Medicine led by Jang Sung-man, a professor in psychiatry, jointly conducted the research with Inha University’s School of Medicine and Seoul National University’s College of Medicine.
The team analyzed 18,807 participants of the state-conducted epidemiologic research on psychiatric disorders for 2001, 2006 and 2011.
The findings were published in the December issue of the Journal of Korean Medical Science.
The prevalence rate of depression among the population sample was 3.3 percent for women and 1.5 percent for men.
Women showed higher levels of fatigue, hypersomnia and attempted suicide more often than men.
Decreased sex drive was a notable symptom in men, followed by insomnia.
The research team said the differences in symptoms according to gender points to the possibility of a difference in biological mechanisms between men and women.