Each gender has its own challenges in having mental health recognized. Tyler Jacobson pleas for stereotypes to be dropped so more people can find health.
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The squeaky wheel gets the oil.
It’s an old saying and one most people are familiar with. If you’re loud about your needs, you get the attention required to fix it. This is especially true when it comes to the diagnosis of ADHD in boys versus girls. In boys, the disorder manifests itself in loud, disruptive behavior. Girls, however, tend to be far more drawn in and quiet, and thus get missed.
Studies show this is also true of anxiety disorders, where men tend to act out aggressively whereas women are more inclined to ruminate and internalize.
Why Now?
Mental illness in women has always been a struggle to study. Many studies attempting to focus on the differences between the sexes are labeled as sexist and unfair. However, research does show that the differences between men and women suffering the same afflictions do demonstrate vastly different behaviors, making the diagnosis and treatment different for each.
Examples of this are bipolar disorder and even schizophrenia. Both appear equally as often in both genders, but are felt, experienced, and expressed differently.
And then a study recently published on PNAS.org (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States) asserted the differences in male and female thought processes, saying that the brains of each are wired very differently.
This, of course, does nothing but reinforce stereotypes where women are overly dramatic and crazy while men are the strong type that just can’t communicate with women. None of which helps the situation.
A frustrating dichotomy, to say the least.
Inequality Swings the Other Way
However, despite all of this, women are up to 40% more likely to develop mental health conditions than men. No one has been able to answer exactly why this is, but there are speculations that attempt to explain why these numbers are so skewed.
- Environment
As complex as mental health issues are, there are a number of factors that contribute, one of which is environment. When our media saturates the world of a woman with ideas affecting her sense of self-worth, it can make them more vulnerable to depression, anxiety, and the like. - Men Are Less Likely to Go to the DoctorJust as media and the environment affect a woman’s sense of self, so too does it give men a self-perception of masculinity. Seeking help is, decidedly, unmasculine. This refusal could contribute to the numbers of diagnosed cases, as men simply aren’t going.
- Poverty and AbuseLife is hard enough even with food on the table and a roof over the head. Take that away and add the constant threat of abuse, and it’s not far-fetched that women are more prone to suffer depression and anxiety.
Without more deliberate and objective studies free of stereotype it’ll be hard to diagnose and treat both men and women effectively.
More misrepresentations, more excuses. More reasons that men are suffering in silence. You don’t have to fawn for female approval here. Just say it man, blame and shame keeps men at bay, and women participate in that conditioning with their expectations. When we admit the truth here is when we will advance.
The line that really got to me was “Poverty and Abuse Life is hard enough even with food on the table and a roof over the head. Take that away and add the constant threat of abuse, and it’s not far-fetched that women are more prone to suffer depression and anxiety” I wish I’d read that first in that I wouldn’t have bothered with reading it all. The other that threw me was “Examples of this are bipolar disorder and even schizophrenia. Both appear equally as often in both genders, but are felt, experienced, and expressed differently. ” He put… Read more »