Psychological Disorders More Common In Women

Happy Mothers Day to All!

The Last Sunday had been quite eventful for all of us who celebrated for their mothers and Mother’s themselves. Being Women and a Mother comes with a lot of Multi-tasking in New India and a subsequent increase in the inability to deal with it Physically and Psychologically.

Let’s Give all Our mother’s a Gift of “ Understanding” by knowing how all this multitasking could take a toll on a Woman’s Mental Health!

There is a large Percentage of women suffering from untreated and underdiagnosed mental illnesses due to a variety of reasons including inadequacy of mental health professionals, lack of awareness, the disadvantaged position of women, stigma, multiple roles, and domestic violence etc.

 Here are some of the Most Common Psychological Disorders In women which can impact a women’s overall health and well-being:

Depression

One of the major reasons for depression in women is a significant amount of biological changes that they go through in their lifespan. Hormonal flux around and during childbirth is yet another important factor. Women also suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder around their menstrual cycles; which has similar symptoms to that of a major depressive disorder. Women are always taught to Internalize and be mindful of their feelings and emotions, unlike the boys who are taught to “Toughen up”! Added to all this, there is the stress of working in the office and the rush of deadlines to be on par with their male counterparts. Statistically, 75 % of Indian working women suffer from depression at some point in their lives.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Women are twice likely to suffer from PTSD. This is not due to the fact that women suffer from more traumas in life than men; but certain types of traumas are more common in females like sexual abuse and domestic violence and abuse. Another reason for this statistics of women doubling in rates for this disorder could be how women react to the trauma. The survivors generally blame themselves and believe that their incompetence had led to the trauma. Also, the coping skills that women use are generally suppressing or disengaging from upsetting emotions and memories.

Women generally start with a higher baseline for anxiety and depression; could also explain why they experience Trauma more often.

Anxiety

Anxiety an emotion that has existed in humans since evolution wheel started moving. It is necessary in moderation. But if it gets out of bound it destabilizes the individual and makes him dysfunctional. Again, women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with an Anxiety disorder than Men; grossly because of how the different genders react to the stressors in life. How the women react to stressors again is largely based on social and cultural norms and parenting styles.

Eating Disorders

These disorders are generally labelled as women’s diseases although a lot of men are also affected by them. If you ever noticed the advertisements, billboards, TV commercials; you know how much pressure is placed on women culturally to conform to certain standards of thinness, weight, shape etc. This unhealthy mindset affects women’s relationship with food and body. Among Eating disorders, Binge eating Disorder is more common than Anorexia and Bulimia together. It could also be that men view bingeing as a part of their normal behaviour and not as something that needs correction.

More research is taking place in the light of women’s mental health issues. Targeted treatments Like therapy, counselling etc could bring more positive outcome and a buy women a better mental health.

If you or someone you know is suffering from a Mental Health problem of the categorized or Uncategorized form, do visit a Psychologist for help. Gift your Near and Dear one’s A sound Mental Health and Wellbeing.