Women did not face an increased risk of depression at the menopause unless other factors were present, and unless they expected to be depressed during it, the conference was told.
While women were more at risk from depression than men, this mainly affected women in the 2555 age-group, especially married women at home with children, according to Dr Siobhan Barry of the Cluain Mhuire service in Black rock, Co Dublin.
Hormonal factors might be important in the development of depression, but social factors were of central importance, and if they were not addressed women would be done a poor service.
The literature suggested that work protected women from depression, but only if they were not forced to do it for economic reasons, and if they had adequate child-care arrangements.
Post-menopausal women were likely to be depressed only if they had a history of depression or if they were suffering a loss such as bereavement, she said.
Alzheimer's Disease was higher among women than men, according to Prof Brian Lawlor of St James's Hospital, Dublin, partly because it was associated with age. Women lived longer than men and mortality from it was higher among men, he said.
The post-menopausal drop in oestrogen may be a factor in its onset in women, as there was evidence that oestrogen might be protective of nerve cells, he said.