If you are a woman experiencing depression, an anxiety disorder, or another mental health condition, you are not alone.
According to a recent survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about 23 percent of the female population, have experienced a diagnosable mental health-related disorder in the last year alone. And those are just the known instances.
Experts say that millions of other cases may go unreported — and untreated.
Mental Health: Women’s Health Issues
Some mental health conditions occur more often in women and can play a significant role in the state of a woman’s overall health.
While men experience higher rates of autism, early onset schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder, and alcoholism, mental health conditions more common in women include:
- Depression. Women are twice as likely as men (12 percent of women compared to 6 percent of men) to get depression.
- Anxiety and specific phobias. Although men and women are affected equally by such mental health conditions as obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobias, women are twice as likely as men to have panic disorder, generalized anxiety, and specific phobias.
- Post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). Women are twice as likely to develop PTSD following a traumatic event.
- Suicide attempts. Men die from suicide at four times the rate that women do, but women attempt suicide two or three times more often than men.
- Eating disorders. Women account for at least 85 percent of all anorexia and bulimia cases and 65 percent of binge-eating disorder cases.
Mental Health: Women’s Symptoms Are Also Different
Even when men and women share a common mental health diagnosis, the symptoms, and subsequently the treatment, can be different.
For example, a man who is depressed is likely to report job-related problems, while a woman is more likely to report physical issues, like fatigue or appetite and sleep disturbances. Unlike their depressed male counterparts, women tend to develop problems with alcohol abuse within a few years of the onset of depression. Women are more likely to use religious and emotional outlets to offset the symptoms of depression compared to men, who often find relief through sports and other hobbies.
Women with schizophrenia more often experience depression and thought impairment, while men with schizophrenia are more likely to become apathetic and socially isolated. Women with schizophrenia typically respond faster to antipsychotic medication and need less personal care. Schizophrenic women also report more mood symptoms, which can complicate the diagnostic process and may require a prescription for mood stabilizers in addition to anti-psychotic medications.
Mental Health Issues in Women – Women’s Health Center – EverydayHealth.com
