Female Mental Health Issues

Make no mistake about it, mental health issues can happen to men and to women, with severe mental illness cases not varying significantly between the two. However women are certainly more prone to certain psychological difficulties due to a whole range of socio-economic and psychological differences in their lives.

Twice as many women suffer from anxiety and depression than men, and self-harm rates are between two and three times higher for women. Around 90% of people suffering from eating disorders are women, and an astonishing 10% of women do experience a period of post-natal depression. So what’s it all about? Have women inadvertently put more pressure on themselves by trying to “have it all”, after all, “Wonder Woman” is a fictional character which thousands of women are striving to emulate every single day of their lives. Striving for equality in the workplace and equal opportunities has left millions of women around the world trying to juggle many roles – holding down a high powered position (which they incidentally can’t afford to do without now), with being a mother, with being a wife and on top of all that being a housekeeper and making sure that the family is well fed with clean clothes to wear. Something has got to snap and all to soon – it does.

Mrs Perfect – nobody is perfect (and some are further away from it than others), but to be constantly striving to be perfect, the perfect career, the perfect children, perfect house with a perfect garden and perfectly manicured nails. Perfectionists are bound to fail, and when they do their self-esteem plummets and they become extremely self-critical. Failure in the pursuit of perfection can lead to depression, eating disorders, self-harm and even thoughts or attempts of suicide.

Mrs People Pleaser – think back to the women which you know, mothers, workers, wives, just think about the cross section. How many of those women please themselves, and how many would rather please everybody else. It’s a woman thing, many genuinely trying to keep everyone else happy instead of addressing their own feelings and needs.

Mrs Having Trouble Conceiving - for some women, the desire to have children is so powerful, that if for some reason things don’t go according to plan with either difficulty conceiving or carrying a child full term, it can create strong feelings of inadequacy, distress and emotional conflict. Many women feel isolated with these feelings and simply don’t turn for help when they need to.

Mrs Overload – women are traditionally the glue which holds a family together, and whenever there is a family breakdown due to separation, discrimination, poverty or abuse it is the woman of the family who bears the brunt of it and is left “holding the baby” so to speak, whether the baby is the children or, in fact, elderly relatives. The heavy responsibilities can sometimes be just too much for one person to deal with in the long term, and a breakdown follows.

Miss Low Self Esteem – it may be surprising to hear that there are lots of female mental health issues which are mostly prominent in the under 25′s. Eating disorders and self-harm can be brought about by feelings of inadequacy or frustration. Young men may deal with these feelings by turning to anti-social behavior or violence, young women are more likely to self-harm.

The Older Lady – is certainly not free from mental health issues either. This can often be attributed to loneliness (women tend to outlive their husbands) and poverty (without adequate pensions). This group of older women are less likely to have the independence found in driving a car, for example, and don’t have adequate pensions in place. Losing ones partner and seeing ones friends die around you can leave you feeling in despair and mental health problems can follow.

Help With Female Mental Health Issues

The trouble is that many women are so determined to “carry on regardless” and put their own feelings on the backburner, so to speak, that they simply don’t seek help. There is therapy which can help many of these situations before they get too far out of hand. Something as simple as taking a couple of hours out each week can make a real difference to the lives of many women, and many organizations and self-help groups have formed to help women in the early stages of mental health problems.

* Art Therapy
* Behavior Therapy
* Cognitive Therapy
* Biofeedback Therapy
* Massage Therapy
* Group Therapy
* Family or Couples Therapy
* Relaxation Therapy

The bottom line is that millions of women around the world are suffering from mental health issues right now. If you feel that you might be one of them please don’t suffer in silence, there are people who can really help you.