It is important to look at gender in relation to mental health because of how women and men are individually treated in the medical field in terms of diagnostics, care and how serious the concerns that are expressing are being taken into consideration. In the article Gender and Women’s Mental Health posted by the World Health Organization they stated how “gender is a critical determinant of mental health and mental illness. The morbidity associated with mental illness has received substantially more attention than the gender specific determinants and mechanisms that promote and protect mental health”. For example, I have come across many different conversations where women are perceived as being the “weaker” gender with how often we wear our emotions on our sleeves while constantly expressing our fears and happiness compared to men who are seen as being the tough ones and the “muscle” of the family when that is not always the case which leads to them being accurately seen as showing anger, being emotionless and then maybe expressing their happiness last. These are all examples of common stereotypical descriptions of both genders. With these stereotypes in mind and how one chooses to express their concerns and symptoms women are often diagnosed with major depression, PTSD or anything of that sort compared to men who are more likely to be diagnosed with substance abuse or as having disregards to other people. I feel that in some cases but not all men would rather turn to abusive behavior rather than reaching out for help or showing this kind of emotion because of them being worried about how it makes them look or whatever the reason may be “despite being common, mental illness is underdiagnosed by doctors. Less than half of those who meet diagnostic criteria for psychological disorders are identified by doctors” (WHO, 2020).
It is essential for everyone especially health care providers to be aware of specific symptoms associated with each separate diagnosis and being educated on how to properly treat one facing a mental health issue or disorder because this does play a role on how we treat and are able to best support our loved ones as well as providers being able to develop the right treatment plan for their patients “gender bias occurs in the treatment of psychological disorders. Doctors are more likely to diagnose depression in women compared with men, even when they have similar scores on standardized measures of depression or present with identical symptoms” (WHO, 2020). When men and women are expressing the same or somewhat similar concerns and they are receiving completely different diagnosed (which are not always true to an individual’s health by the way) we need to look more into the connection between gender and mental health as a whole and how we could better manage and support these individuals without being bias or providing discrimination based on one’s past with violence, income, socioeconomic status or race. It is necessary to see an individual for who they are rather than as their gender, race or illness. This is an common topic that deserves more conversation than there currently is in order to improve health outcomes for all, this includes having effective conversations with providers, having the appropriate access to the needed resources, services and support from those that they need it from the most that will positively influence the good of their health.
One video that really stood out to me was “How Childhood Trauma Impacts Health Across the Lifespan”by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris who address childhood trauma not as something that you could just get over as you get older and how it starts with one’s parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse possibly leading to a number of health risk for yourself. I found her overall mindset and her experience in the health field very impactful and inspiring especially when thinking about the current health care system that we have that does not work to support, treat and reach all. She reminds me of this show that I watch “New Amsterdam” in terms of the kind of work that the medical director Dr. Max Goodwin does in order to care for all in his community. To me they show many similarities with how they both are able to step outside out the box in order to treat those under supported rather than following the “normal” protocol because though it is in place does not mean it is always right. Dr. Harris was able to further educate herself on gender, mental health and human rights and use this information in direct link with the kind of care that she offers to those in need. She takes these statistics and numbers and uses them to her advantage in order to properly address the issues surrounding mental health through her clinical practice and in her career. She and her partner created a center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco to prevent, screen and heal the impacts of ACEs and toxic stress successfully making a huge impact on those in the community “providers are not trained in routine screening and treatment” which caught my attention because I do not understand why this wouldn’t be a part of your training and rather than following this she chose to read more and more on the topic and provide services based on what was lacking in our system because as providers we are supposed to “use this science for prevention and treatment” (Harris, 2015). One reading that stood out to me was Mental Health and Human Rights: vision, praxis and courage by Michael Dudley Derrick Silove and Fran Gale. This reading is very organized and easy to with how they chose to present the information on this topic with address gender differences. It clearly touches on important issues that we are still facing in our health care system today and they even provide some entail with how we could work to improve things in best interest of the people. Each author was able to provide direct views on experiences on human rights with addressing women and violence, health, bodies, roles in mental health, discrimination, types of mental illness and of course human rights for both women and children.
Reference List:
World Health Organization. (2020). Gender and Women's Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/
Harris, N. (2015). How Childhood Trauma Impacts Health Across the Lifespan.Ted Talks. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/95ovIJ3dsNk
Dudley, et al. (2012). Mental Health and Human Rights: vision, praxis and courage.
It is essential for everyone especially health care providers to be aware of specific symptoms associated with each separate diagnosis and being educated on how to properly treat one facing a mental health issue or disorder because this does play a role on how we treat and are able to best support our loved ones as well as providers being able to develop the right treatment plan for their patients “gender bias occurs in the treatment of psychological disorders. Doctors are more likely to diagnose depression in women compared with men, even when they have similar scores on standardized measures of depression or present with identical symptoms” (WHO, 2020). When men and women are expressing the same or somewhat similar concerns and they are receiving completely different diagnosed (which are not always true to an individual’s health by the way) we need to look more into the connection between gender and mental health as a whole and how we could better manage and support these individuals without being bias or providing discrimination based on one’s past with violence, income, socioeconomic status or race. It is necessary to see an individual for who they are rather than as their gender, race or illness. This is an common topic that deserves more conversation than there currently is in order to improve health outcomes for all, this includes having effective conversations with providers, having the appropriate access to the needed resources, services and support from those that they need it from the most that will positively influence the good of their health.
One video that really stood out to me was “How Childhood Trauma Impacts Health Across the Lifespan”by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris who address childhood trauma not as something that you could just get over as you get older and how it starts with one’s parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse possibly leading to a number of health risk for yourself. I found her overall mindset and her experience in the health field very impactful and inspiring especially when thinking about the current health care system that we have that does not work to support, treat and reach all. She reminds me of this show that I watch “New Amsterdam” in terms of the kind of work that the medical director Dr. Max Goodwin does in order to care for all in his community. To me they show many similarities with how they both are able to step outside out the box in order to treat those under supported rather than following the “normal” protocol because though it is in place does not mean it is always right. Dr. Harris was able to further educate herself on gender, mental health and human rights and use this information in direct link with the kind of care that she offers to those in need. She takes these statistics and numbers and uses them to her advantage in order to properly address the issues surrounding mental health through her clinical practice and in her career. She and her partner created a center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco to prevent, screen and heal the impacts of ACEs and toxic stress successfully making a huge impact on those in the community “providers are not trained in routine screening and treatment” which caught my attention because I do not understand why this wouldn’t be a part of your training and rather than following this she chose to read more and more on the topic and provide services based on what was lacking in our system because as providers we are supposed to “use this science for prevention and treatment” (Harris, 2015). One reading that stood out to me was Mental Health and Human Rights: vision, praxis and courage by Michael Dudley Derrick Silove and Fran Gale. This reading is very organized and easy to with how they chose to present the information on this topic with address gender differences. It clearly touches on important issues that we are still facing in our health care system today and they even provide some entail with how we could work to improve things in best interest of the people. Each author was able to provide direct views on experiences on human rights with addressing women and violence, health, bodies, roles in mental health, discrimination, types of mental illness and of course human rights for both women and children.
Reference List:
World Health Organization. (2020). Gender and Women's Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/
Harris, N. (2015). How Childhood Trauma Impacts Health Across the Lifespan.Ted Talks. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/95ovIJ3dsNk
Dudley, et al. (2012). Mental Health and Human Rights: vision, praxis and courage.