Jahnavi Sarma
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There is a clear relationship between the degree of gender inequality in society and gender inequalities in mental health. @Shutterstock
Feeling sad once in a while is natural. But if this feeling lingers on for days, weeks and, sometimes, even for months, then it is a mental condition, depression. Anxiety and depression are quite common among almost all sections of society and in all age groups with even 3-year-olds being diagnosed as being depressed. There are many causes behind this. But some people may be more at risk of this condition than others. Socio-economic background, genetics, stress, career choice and peer pressure are some things that may contribute to this condition. Many experts have also pointed at gender inequalities as a major contributor to depression. This has also recently been validated by researchers from Spain. According to them, social and gender inequalities are common practice among the health practitioners which have resulted in women being more frequently diagnosed with depression and anxiety than men. This was published in the journal Gaceta Sanitaria.
Gender is a significant determining factor in mental health and in how it is managed by the healthcare services, according to recent studies conducted in Spain by the UPV/EHU's research group OPIK, Social Determinants of Health and Demographic Change. What stood out is the higher prevalence of poor mental health among women of all ages and across all social groups. In addition, there is a multiplier effect due to the accumulation of experiences of inequality.
According to researchers, this reality also appears to be unequal in terms of the age and socioeconomic level of the patients. As a result, prescribed psychotropic drugs are also significantly higher in women among them. Researchers say that all this could point to the existence of a medicalisation process of mental health in women, but interpreting its origin is complex since the processes involving the high prevalence of diagnosis and over-prescription undoubtedly play a role, but maybe also due to infra-diagnosis and lower prescription rates in men.
Researchers asserted that women are more frequently diagnosed with depression and anxiety, even if there is no difference with men with respect to mental health equality, diagnoses and frequency of visits to healthcare centres. Reducing gender inequalities in mental health will need to be the result of policy intervention at various levels. There is a clear relationship between the degree of gender inequality in society and gender inequalities in mental health, they say. In the field of mental health in which the medicalisation of malaise is especially common, far from addressing the cause of the problem, some problems of a social origin end up receiving psychiatric or psychological treatment.
If you are suffering from depression, you may experience an all-pervading sense of doom and gloom. A feeling of utter helplessness and lack of enthusiasm for all things may linger for a long time. You lose interest in all activities that once excited you. You may also suffer a change in your sleep pattern, be tired all the time, experience mood swings and feelings of guilt, be de-motivated and generally withdraw from life. These symptoms are the result of chemical changes in the brain, and so it doesn't get restored on its own. You need timely treatment and care.
(With inputs from IANS)