Characteristics of frequent attenders in different age and sex groups in primary health care

Objective. To explore depression from a gender perspective, by capturing depressed women's and men's formulations of their experiences and understanding of their situation. Design. Qualitative interview study. Setting. A healthcare centre in northern Sweden. Subjects. Eighteen patients who had been diagnosed with depression and treated for at least 6 months were interviewed in depth, both women and men of different ages and social status. Open questions were posed around the themes of Malterud's key questions, focusing especially on how the informants conveyed their experiences. Interviewing and qualitative data analysis went on simultaneously. Results. The experience of depression held similarities for men and women, but the outward manifestations differed by gender as well as socioeconomic status. Though experiences of high demands underlay the narratives of all informants, home or work had different priority. Men talked more easily about physical distress – often the heart – than about emotions. Women verbalized more readily emotional distress – shame and guilt – while physical symptoms often revolved around the stomach. Men dealt with insecurity by aggrandizing their previous competence, women by self-effacement. Conclusion. As clinicians we must listen attentively not only to the manifest but to the avoided or unarticulated. By doing so we might counteract normative gender patterns that highlight the depression of women and conceal that of men.