SHEroes: Applauding the Resilience of Women

By Carolyn Kasimatis

R.O.S.E.S., Inc. Marketing Intern 

A few days ago, we celebrated International Women’s Day! On this day, it’s important to recognize the strong and impactful women in our lives and society today. Women play many roles in life; we are wives, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and many more. Multitasking all these roles can be very hard and overwhelming for our mental health.

It’s important to recognize how certain mental health disorders affect women differently than men. Common disorders like depression, anxiety, trauma, and eating disorders are shown to affect women more than men.

1. Depressive disorders account for more than 40% of women and 30% of men. Gender, genetic, social, economic disorders are factors of women developing depression.

2. Women are likely to experience anxiety twice as much as men. This is due to hormonal fluctuations and brain chemistry that women experience more than men.

3. Trauma is seen more in women due violent conflicts, displacement from home, and natural disasters that women endure. Women are twice as likely to have PTSD from these factors and can likely increase due to other factors of sexual abuse and violence.

4. Women are more likely to be impacted by eating disorders. There are no definitive causes, but genetics, social and cultural factors play a big role when developing an eating disorder that put more pressure on women than men.

Awareness of women’s mental health is essential for creating a supportive and inclusive society that prioritizes mental health and has a more compassionate approach to mental health care.

If you are having trouble with any of these visit the National Institute of Mental Health https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help for additional guidance.

Other Links:

https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/why-we-need-pay-attention-womens-mental-health

https://www.texashealth.org/Health-and-Wellness/Behavioral-Health/How-Anxiety-Affects-Men-and-Women-Differently