Mental Illness In Men Vs Women

Gender is crucial when examining all aspects of human health, but especially in terms of mental illness. Different conditions are more prevalent in men versus women that are actually related to society-constructed gender roles. Males are far more likely to diagnosed with disorders linked to violence and anger. While the public and media encourage them to be strong and fight if necessary, some take this too far according to doctors and their actions will be considered symptoms of mental illness, particularly in upper-class areas of the country. On the other hand, women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and mood disorders since those are directly related to them being considered “weak” by society.
One of the conditions that is most affected by …show more content…
by Casey Schwartz describes how doctors are still unfamiliar with hysteria, or conversion disorder, and the best ways to treat it. The story about Susan Thomas shows that often, health professionals do not believe this illness truly exists and convince the patient that they are faking the symptoms. She was completely dismissed at the emergency room and they were sure she had nothing wrong with her physically. This seems to be an issue that affects both genders, but particularly women. Men are expected to be tough and strong, so if they resort to actually getting treatment for an illness, they likely are telling the truth. In contrast, society has always seen women as overly sensitive and exaggerate their problems. Therefore, many doctors will automatically dismiss their claims unless there are results from testing. This is extremely biased and sexist as many females are telling the truth and are treated more like children than grown adults. Over time, this disparity has only grown stronger, especially since hysteria has been removed from textbooks and considered to be somewhat of a joke amongst a lot of members of the medical