
Women who look after a sick or elderly relative are more likely to suffer from mental health problems than men who act as carers.
Just over one in five women carers in England complain of having depression, phobias and anxiety, compared with 12% of men.
The report, from the Office for National Statistics, says female carers are more likely to suffer from mental health disorders than women in general.
But there was no significant difference between male carers and men in the general population.
It also found that people who spent 20 hours or more a week caring were twice as likely to show symptoms of mental health conditions.
The report, called Mental Health of Carers, was based on interviews with 1,350 adult carers across England.
A second report published by the ONS, entitled Carers 2000, showed that there are 6.8 million carers in Britain aged over 16.
The vast majority - 79% - cared for a sick, disabled or elderly relative, with the remaining 21% looking after a friend or neighbor.
About a third of carers looked after someone they live with, the remaining two-thirds caring for someone living elsewhere.
About a third of carers said they felt it had a moderate or extreme adverse effect on relationships with friends or their social life.
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