Depression, that is, “major” or “clinical” depression, is so prevalent that many mental-health authorities call it “the common cold of mental illness.”

Depression has a host of known risk factors: female gender, family history, distorted thinking patterns, medication side effects, adverse life events (divorce, financial reverses, the death of loved ones), and chronic illnesses (diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's diseases, and hormonal disorders).

Recently, researchers at the University of Michigan and a Belgian university added a new risk factor that affects mostly women, forced sex.

The investigators used a nationally representative database to explore forced sex and depression among 1,298 respondents who identified as women. They chose the term “forced sex” instead of “rape” or “

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