On this 60th International Women’s day, there is a growing focus on the role of women in the world, in leadership, national and world economy, as well as within the family. Given the tremendously changing status of women the world over, mental wellness and health of women has become especially important in today’s world.
Women and men are not only different in their physical appearance but also in the way they communicate, deal in relationships and react to stress. Gender is a very important determinant of mental health and mental illness. The pattern of psychological distress and psychiatric disorder among women are different from those seen in men.
Even though there are no significant differences between the numbers of men and women who experience a mental health problem overall, some problems are more common in women than in men. Gender differences are seen in age of onset of symptoms, clinical features, frequency of psychotic symptoms, course of disease, social adjustment and long-term outcome in case of severe mental disorders.
Some disorders are more common in women such as depression and anxiety. There are also certain types of disorders that are unique to women. For example, some women may experience symptoms of mental disorders at times of hormone change, such as perinatal depression, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and perimenopause-related depression. When it comes to other mental disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, research has not found differences in the rates at which men and women experience these illnesses. But women may experience these illnesses differently – certain symptoms may be more common in women than in men, and the course of the illness can be affected by the sex of the individual. Researchers are only now beginning to tease apart the various biological and psychosocial factors that may impact the mental health of both women and men.
About 25% of people who die by suicide are women. Again, women’s greater emotional literacy and readiness to talk to others about their feelings and seek help may protect them from suicidal feelings. Being a mother also makes women less likely to take their own life.
The status of women in the society has been changing fast due to multiple factors such as urbanization, industrialization, increased level of education, awareness of rights, and media influence. More and more women prefer to be engaged in some kind of employment, so that they can contribute financially to their family. Although, larger sections of women from all socioeconomic classes are employed outside the home; this neither relieves them from their domestic duties nor does this change their social position significantly. For centuries, the differences between men and women have been socially defined and distorted through a lens of sexism in which men assumed superiority over women and maintained it through domination. Thus carrying out duties and responsibilities both at home and workplace overstrains a married working woman, thereby leading to various psychological problems like role conflict, job strain, mental fatigue, stress, anxiety, frustration, depression, anger, phobias, and other social and emotional distress. All of these problems can interactively affect the mental well-being of working women and more so in married working women. Studies have shown that working women have poor mental health and higher level of depression compared to nonworking women.
Mental disturbances frequently occur during late pregnancy and in the postpartum period. Post-partum blues is the most common illness affecting 50-80% of new mothers. Low attendance in hospitals can be explained partly by lack of availability of resources to women, attributing it to greater stigma attached to women’s mental illness that restricts help-seeking in public health facilities. Women are less empowered due to lesser opportunities of education and respectable employment.
Some women find it hard to talk about difficult feelings and ‘internalise’ them, which can lead to problems such as depression and eating disorders. They may express their emotional pain through self-harm, whereas men are more likely to ‘act out’ repressed feelings, and to use violence against others.
Women’s increased life expectancy means they are more likely than men to outlive their partner and move into residential care. This means they are more at risk of depression associated with psycho-social factors. Older people are often faced with more difficult life events and daily stresses than younger people and this may explain why they have a slightly increased risk of depression.
To contribute to the improvement of mental health of women concerted efforts are required at family, social, political, economic and legal levels. It should incorporate physical and mental health across the life cycle beyond just reproductive and maternal health.
Education, training and interventions targeting the social and physical environment are important for addressing women’s mental health. It is essential to develop and adapt strategies which improve social status of women, remove gender differences and increase awareness of their rights.