Although men with depression generally drink more alcohol than men without depression, depressed men who take an antidepressant have consumption comparable with that of men without the disorder, according to an article in the February 27 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Similar research conducted with women had very different results: Women with depression consumed more alcohol than women who did not have depression regardless of antidepressant use.

“Our results agree with previous clinical research that suggests that the use of antidepressants is associated with lower alcohol consumption among men suffering from depression,” said Dr. Kathryn Graham, lead author. “But this does not appear to be true for women.”

Overall, participants in the survey who had depression (both men and women) drank more alcohol than did non-depressed respondents. However, men taking antidepressants consumed significantly less alcohol than depressed men who did not use antidepressants. Non-depressed men consumed 436 drinks per year compared with 579 drinks for depressed men not using antidepressants and 414 drinks for depressed men who used antidepressants.

Unfortunately for women, alcohol use remained higher whether the women with depression took antidepressants or not. The numbers are telling: 179 drinks per year for non-depressed women compared with 235 drinks for depressed women not using antidepressants and 264 drinks for depressed women who used antidepressants “The fact that the relationship between the use of antidepressants and the level of alcohol consumption is different for men and women points to the importance of taking gender influences and sex differences into consideration in the treatment and prevention of many health conditions,” said Dr. Miriam Stewart, Scientific Director for CIHR Institute of Gender and Health. “This type of research reporting significant sex differences helps identify important clues for tailoring interventions.”

“We do not know whether antidepressants have different pharmacological effects on men and women, whether depression differs by gender, or whether the differences in the process of being treated for depression account for this discrepancy,” said Graham. “For example, physicians prescribing antidepressants may be more likely to caution men than women about their drinking.”

For the study, 14,063 Canadian residents aged 18-76 years were surveyed. The survey included measures of quantity, frequency of drinking, depression and antidepressants use, over the period of a year.

The researchers used data from the GENACIS Canada survey, part of an international collaboration to investigate the influence of cultural variation on gender differences in alcohol use and related problems. CIHR provided over 1.3 million to GENACIS Canada (GENder Alcohol and Culture: an International Study). Over 35 countries and more than 100 leading alcohol and gender researchers are involved in the multinational study.

Every year, 12 percent of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 64 years experience some form of psychiatric disorder or substance dependence.