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MENTAL DISORDERS AND GENDER

Gender is correlated with the prevalence of certain mental disorders, including depression, anxiety and somatic complaints. Major depression is twice as common in women. The lifetime prevalence rate of alcohol dependence is more than twice as high in men, and men are more than three times as likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. For example, w omen are more likely to be diagnosed with major depression, while men are more likely to be diagnosed with substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder. There are no marked gender differences in the diagnosis rates of disorders like schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. Women are more commonly diagnosed with mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and phobias. Although, men are also at risk to have suffer from PTSD due to their past violent experiences such as accidents, wars and witnessing death, women are diagnosed with PTSD at higher rates more likely to develop PTSD due to sexual assault, rape and child sexual abuse experiences. People who identify as gender queer show increased risk for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sigmund Freud postulated that women were more prone to neurosis because they experienced aggression towards the self, which stemmed from developmental issues. Freud's postulation is countered by the idea that societal factors, such as gender roles, may play a major role in the development of mental illness. When considering gender and mental illness, one must look to both biology and social/cultural factors to explain areas in which men and women are more likely to develop different mental illnesses. Societal patriarchy, and gender roles, and exposure to other mental health risks have adverse effects on the psychological perceptions of both men and women. These gender roles may include the pressure on men to hide their emotions and the fact that women, on average, have lower self-esteem and sense of control than men. Both men and women experience pressure from society to appear a certain way, leading some people to develop eating and exercise disorders as a coping mechanism. When certain factors, such as work outside the domestic sphere, are controlled, women and men tend to experience a full range of mental illnesses at approximately equal rates. In some cases when such factors were controlled, women showed lower rates of mental illness on the whole. This article will explore the difference in various mental disorders prevalence between men and women, the increased risk for specific mental disorders in the LGBT+ community, and the various proposed causes for these gender disparities.

The object relations theory postulates that because women are mostly responsible for parenting, mothers emphasize the importance of relationships to their daughters while pushing their sons into independence. Sarah Rosenfield uses this the object relations theory to argue that males and females develop different types of symptoms when they are mentally ill because of different relationships parents have with sons and daughters. Men tend to display externalized symptoms, expressing problematic emotions in outward behavior. Women tend to develop internalized symptoms, where problematic feelings are directed towards the self. In accordance with the internalized-externalized dichotomy, However, women are much more likely to be affected. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been found to be equally prevalent among both men and women. Borderline personality disorder is a dysfunction that causes the person to have low self-esteem, have unstable and intense relationships and chronic feelings of emptiness. Also, (BPD) individuals experience the fear of abandonment, which can be associated with women that still remain with their violent partner. Men more commonly experience substance abuse, antisocial disorders, and violence. Unfortunately, Both men and women are more likely to be institutionalized if their diagnosis is not typical of their gender (Martha Lang, 2006).