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Annotated Bibliography

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and how depression correlates to this disease in women

Bethann Odell
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
March 12, 2015

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Annotated Bibliography
Beyond Infertility: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (pcos). Bethesda, Md.: Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2008.
Internet resource. 25 Feb. 2015.
This resource goes over the basics of PCOS and provides a better understanding
into the breakdown of the disease. I learned the bulk of my information about
PCOS from this online information. Between 5 and 10 percent of women of
childbearing age are affected by PCOS. They are susceptible to symptoms such as
infertility, excessive hair growth, severe acne, and weight gain. An excess of
androgens in the body causes this uncontrollable disease. This male hormone
overpowers estrogen in the ovaries, making hormone levels out of balance. Due to
this, it is common for other health issues to take place, such as diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, and sleep apnea. There is no cure for PCOS but there are
some things women can do to offset the disease. Healthcare providers encourage
women to maintain a healthy lifestyle to improve fertility rates and reduce weight
gain. Going along with fertility it is common for women to find out they have
PCOS when they try to get pregnant, and cannot. All of these factors related to
PCOS can take a huge toll on a womans life, which is why I decided to raise
awareness for it and inquire deeper into it. There is research being done now to
help women with PCOS. According to this source, researchers are actually
creating animal models to study the disease. This resource directly correlates to
my topic because it describes in detail the ins and outs of the disease. As I go

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along further to correlate this disease to depression, I will refer back to this source
for the main symptoms and causes of PCOS.
Bhattacharya, SM, and A Jha. "Prevalence and Risk of Depressive Disorders in Women
with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (pcos)." Fertility and Sterility. 94.1 (2010): 3579. Print. 28 Feb. 2015.
This article is an example of another study conducted for the relationship between
depression and PCOS. The Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Patient
Health Questionnaire provided a self-administered scale to 117 women out of 135
who attended a clinic for depression. They compared various factors in women,
similar to the previous study I annotated, except this clinic seemed to dive deeper
into the types of women affected. They took marriage, education, and
employment into account. I thought this was interesting and provided essential
information into the reasons behind anxiety and depression in women with PCOS.
Again, this study found that women with PCOS reported higher levels (64.1%) of
anxiety and depression in their lives. The most fascinating part of this clinical
study is that sociodemographic, clinical, and biochemical parameters were
compared in and interesting way. This study was mainly trying to figure out why
women with PCOS had depression. There is thought to be a correlation between
the androgens in the body and a womans mood, but this is a controversial claim.
Insulin resistance is thought to be a protector against severe depression, but the
article states that this is just another controversy. The proposed causes for

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depression in women with PCOS are helpful to my knowledge and understanding
of my inquiry question. This study closes with a final note remarking, A
randomized controlled trial investigating whether depression in PCOS women
improves along with successful treatment would be more inferential. I am
wondering the same thing and will continue to research using this study as I
complete my project.
Deeks, AA, ME Gibson-Helm, E Paul, and HJ Teede. "Is Having Polycystic Ovary
Syndrome a Predictor of Poor Psychological Function Including Anxiety and
Depression?" Human Reproduction (oxford, England). 26.6 (2011): 1399-407.
Print. 28 Feb. 2015.
The title of this article itself is the exact question I have been asking throughout
this inquiry process. This article talks about a cross-sectional study conducted
through a questionnaire in 177 women with PCOS and 109 healthy women. The
results proved that women with PCOS had a much higher mean depression score
than the healthy women. This article gives a very analytical breakdown of the
study. The factors taken into consideration in this study were different for each
group of women and for each type of mental disorder. For the experimental
group, the women with PCOS, the factors of anxiety were based on self worth,
health evaluation, time taken to diagnose PCOS, and age. In the control group, the
healthy women, factors included self worth, health evaluation, and rural living. As
far as depression goes, the experimental group factors were self worth, quality of
life, fitness orientation, appearance evaluation, and time to diagnose. The control

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group factors for depression were self worth, illness orientation, and appearance
orientation. The study concluded that anxiety, depression, and negative body
image are increased in women with PCOS. It also concludes that time taken to
diagnose PCOS is associated with poor psychological functioning. This source is
essential to my research because it gives a specific example of a scientific study
conducted about PCOS and depression/anxiety.
Elman, Shana and Rasgon, Natalie. When not to treat depression in PCOS with
antidepressants. Current Psychiatry. Vol. 4 No.2, Feb. 2005. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
This article goes over the basics of what I already know that women with PCOS
also commonly have high levels of depression. However, the two writers of this
source provided an insight into how to go about treating patients with PCOS and
depression. I found it to be a necessary angle to explore in the process of my
initial inquiry. This source expresses that depressed mood in PCOS may be
physiologic and psychological. End-organ system deregulation occurs and create
obesity, insulin resistance, and hyperandrogenism. Along with acne, hormonal
issues, fear of infertility, and psychological distress, it is no question why levels
of depression are higher in women with PCOS. Through studies conducted of a
woman referred to as Ms. K, the two writers found that other medicines may
help treat depression in PCOS women better than antidepressants can. Finding the
right combination of medicines to combat insulin problems can indeed treat
depression. Ms. K proved this theory correct. According to the study, when she
was given the antidepressant medicine venlafaxine, her symptoms increased,

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and after 4 weeks of tapering off the venlafaxine and alleviating her depression
symptoms with a different drug used for insulin treatment, she found an increase
in mood. This study concluded that actually treating PCOS with insulinsensitizing medication could resolve the depression with PCOS. Along with
insulin medication, antiandrogens such as spironolactone can treat baldness and
acne, which reduces depression in these women as well. Overall this study is very
essential to my research and other research concerning PCOS as well. Finding the
proper drugs to administer to affected women is essential to the research of today
and tomorrow.