Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
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  5. Social Science in Psychiatry

Social Science in Psychiatry

Head: apl. Prof. Dr. rer. soc. Anne Maria Möller-Leimkühler

The Department of Neurophysiology and functional Neuroimaging addresses to investigate neurobiological basis and neurophysiological correlates of human behavior and mental illnesses.

„Social Science in Psychiatry“ has included several research topics over the last years such as stigmatization, caregiver burden, gender and mental health. Currently the focus lies on men´s mental health with special respect to violence and terrorism, aging and retirement as well as gender differences in the clinical presentation of unipolar depression.

To date there is evidence that men report less prototypical depression symptoms compared to women, while externalizing behavioral patterns may dominate the symptom profile, e.g. aggressiveness, addictive behavior, forms of hyperactivity. These patterns are associated to norms of traditional masculinity - and may lead to false diagnoses. Due to an implicit gender bias these patterns are not assessed by common depression screenings/inventories, which may contribute to an underdiagnosis of depression in men.

As a consequence, we have developed a Gender Sensitive Depression Screening (GSDS) also considering externalizing behavior. The aim is to better identify depression in men. The GSDS has been validated in several large non-clinical samples. Results indicate that a significantly higher rate of risk cases could be found in men. Additional publications on the GSDS are currently in preparation, with respect to further validation and clinical application.

    • Further validation of the GSDS

    • A book on the psychosocial situation and mental health of elderly men is in preparation