Is women's depression more widespread than men's? WWU's Dana Jack to present information from book on the topic May 21

Dana Jack, a professor at Western Washington University's Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, will present information from her newly published, co-edited book from 3 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 21, in Academic Instructional Center Room 304 on the WWU campus.

Jack's book, "Silencing the Self Across Cultures: Depression and Gender in the Social World," includes 21 contributors from thirteen countries: Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Haiti, India, Israel, Nepal, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland and the United States.

"The book offers evidence regarding why women's depression is more wide-spread than men's and why the treatment of depression lies in understanding that a person's individual psychology is inextricably related to the social world and close relationships," according the to book's description. "The authors examine not only gender differences in depression but also related aspects of mental and physical illness, including treatments specific to women."

Jack, who teaches at WWU in the areas of culture, gender and psyche, co-edited the book with Alisha Ali. Jack's main areas of research focus on women's depression and anger in the U. S. and internationally. As a Fulbright scholar to Nepal in 2001, she taught in a graduate women's studies program at Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, and also completed research on gender and depression in Patan Mental Hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. She was awarded the Paul J. Olscamp Research Award from WWU in 2002.