A WOMAN’S LIFE MATTERS! YOU DON’T HAVE TO SUFFER ALONE!

​Mental health issues widely affect both men and women, so regardless of gender; we should all be taking our mental health seriously.
 
That said, there are certain mental health issues that affect women most, and this is due to a mixture of biological factors, socio-cultural influences, (workplace inequality, body shaming, and the pressure to "have it all"), as well as the fact the we have statistically higher chances of experiencing sexual abuse, domestic violence, rape, and attempted rape in our lifetime. It's clear that if you're female, it's imperative that you educate yourself on the gender-specific mental health risks women face.
 
Women are up to 40 percent more likely to develop mental illnesses than men, so women should be aware that gender does play a role in mental health.
Whether you've struggled with your mental health or not, it's important to know how your mind and body are pre-disposed to certain mental health issues so that you can better understand how to keep yourself healthy. Here are some mental health issues that affect women more often than men.

• Depression

Depression is twice as common in women as it is in men, and there are multiple physical, psychological, and socio-cultural reasons for this.
Women develop less of the feel-good chemical serotonin and process it slower. Hormone levels naturally fluctuate more than men's do, especially during the childbearing process and menopause, which affects mood.

• Anxiety

Women are also twice as likely to develop General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), panic disorder, and certain phobias than men are. Again, this is largely attributed to that same unfortunate trifecta of biological, socio-cultural, and psychological reasons that we talked about above.
Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to manage anxiety, from breathing techniques to medication. If you or a loved one is suffering from anxiety, know that you don't have to do it without help.

• Eating Disorders

While men also suffer from eating disorders, it's no surprise that women make up 85 percent of all anorexia and bulimia cases and 65 percent of all binge-eating disorder cases. Women are conditioned from childhood to strive for "perfect" bodies and to compare bodies to those of other women.
 
If you or someone you love is struggling with a mental health issue, don't ignore it or trust that it will get better on its own.
 
Please seek treatment - contact me on [email protected] or on 084 779 4889. Visit my website on www.nadinetherapy.co.za.
Credit: bustle