Women, anxiety and mood: a review of nomenclature, comorbidity and epidemiology

Women experience a high prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders, and comorbidity of mood and anxiety disorders is highly prevalent. Both mood and anxiety disorders disturb sleep, attention and, thereby, cognitive function. They result in a variety of somatic complaints. The mood disorder continuum includes minor depression, dysthymia, major depression and bipolar disorder. Chronobiological disorders, such as seasonal affective disorder as well as premenstrual dysphoric disorder, occur in some women, with comorbid seasonal affective disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder in just under half of these individuals . Early life experience, heritability, gender, other psychiatric illness, stress and trauma all interact dynamically in the development of mood and anxiety disorders. The epidemiology, nomenclature and clinical diagnostic issues of these illnesses in midlife woman are reviewed.