Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Marcs Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • 2 Clinical Research Unit, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • 3 Palestinian Neuroscience Initiative, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine; Center for Molecular and Behavioural Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
  • 4 School of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
  • 5 International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, Malaysia; Clinical Pharmacology Department, Menoufia Medical School, Menoufia University and American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
  • 6 Department of Genetics, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
  • 7 Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
  • 8 College of Education, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
Psychol Rep, 2020 Oct;123(5):1501-1517.
PMID: 31470771 DOI: 10.1177/0033294119872209

Abstract

Depression can occur due to common major life transitions, such as giving birth, menopause, retirement, empty-nest transition, and midlife crisis. Although some of these transitions are perceived as positive (e.g., giving birth), they may still lead to depression. We conducted a systematic literature review of the factors underlying the occurrence of depression following major life transition in some individuals. This review shows that major common life transitions can cause depression if they are sudden, major, and lead to loss (or change) of life roles (e.g., no longer doing motherly or fatherly chores after children leave family home). Accordingly, we provide a theoretical framework that explains depression caused by transitions in women. One of the most potential therapeutic methods of ameliorating depression associated with life transitions is either helping individuals accept their new roles (e.g., accepting new role as a mother to ameliorate postpartum depression symptoms) or providing them with novel life roles (e.g., volunteering after retirement or children leave family home) may help them overcome their illness.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.