The Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated

2/22/2020

Posted by Christine Nguyen

Gender in relation to mental health is important because it “affects the power and control men and women have over socioeconomic determinants, their access to resources, and their status, roles, options and treatment in society” (e.g. World Health Organization). In the article about Gender Differences & Mental Health, it mentions how depression and anxiety is a major portion linked to mental and neurological disorders. In addition, it states how gender can determine the differential power and control men and women have over their mental state, social position, and status. Depression is also the most common women’s mental health problem (e.g. WHO). This states how it is important to address the gender differences and learn more about ways to reduce stress and depression at an earlier stage. Reducing the overrepresentation of women who are depressed would contribute significantly to lessening the global burden of disability caused by psychological disorders.

Mental health can be better understood if taking in consideration of gender differences. “There are no marked gender differences in the rates if severe mental disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder that affect less than 2% of the population” (e.g. WHO). This is also a good example of being able to differentiate gender to better understand mental disorders since they are different in terms of body hormones and social acceptance. In addition, it’s a stigma to believe that individuals with mental and behavioral illnesses are unequal or inferior according to RethinkStigna. Mental health is very important especially in young adults since it is common to feel burnt-out which can lead to an unfulfilled motivation to reach financial success.

The Stigma and Discrimination article enlightened my learning about mental health and disorders. I thought it was interesting how there were so many false beliefs that revolved around the mental and behavioral disorders. One that really stood out was the stigma about how “mental and behavioral disorders are personally controllable and if individuals cannot get better on their own, they are seen to lack personal effort, are blamed for their condition, and seen as personally responsible” (e.g. RethinkStigma). It illustrates how some people are unable to understand the disorder within itself because they fail or don’t seek to gain knowledge about it. In addition, many of these stigmas relating to mental health connects to one another and as a society, people should be more openminded to educate themselves about the topic to better understand.

The second reading that stood out to me was Mental Health & Human Rights Issues Impacting Women with Mental & Physical Disability. I found it interesting how a “2004 United States survey found that only 35% of working-age persons with disabilities are in fact working, compared to 78% of those without disabilities” (Disability News & Information, n.d.). This shows how people with disabilities are still able to work and still be able to face their own challenges. Furthermore, it shows how they too can live a normal life as any other functioning person. People should be able to understand what people are able to offer before judging them based off of their appearances and mental disabilities.

Disability News & Information. World Facts and Statistics on Disabilities and Disability Issues. Retrieved from http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/statistics/ (Links to an external site.)

Gender and women's mental health. (2013, June 24). Retrieved February 22, 2020, from https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/

Mental Health & Human Rights Issues Impacting Women with Mental & Physical Disability. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from
(https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1369235/pages/7-dot-7-mental-health-and-human-rights-issues-impacting-women-with-mental-and-physical-disability?module_item_id=10085478

11 Comments

TJ Kapil

2/23/2020 11:24:00 am

Hi Christine,
Thank you for sharing. I agree with you that reducing the depression rate among women is very important. I feel that there would be a positive effect on any nations economy if less women were depressed because they would be motivated to contribute a lot more. It's wrong to think that people with mental illness are unequal. Mental illness is extremely serious and it can be very difficult to know what exactly is going on in someones head. That is why it's very important to be supportive of those with mental illness so they do not harm themselves or others.

Marisol Bejarano

2/23/2020 01:11:47 pm

Hi Christine,
I agree that mental health is something important to be aware of hen working in Healthcare. An interesting concept about depression is that men are much less likely to report depression because it can mean signs of weakness. This can be dangerous because untreated depression can lead to self harm.

Janely Gonzalez

2/23/2020 01:53:49 pm

Hi Christine,
Thanks for sharing! Mental health and mental disorders like anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc, are some of the leading causes of death in the U.S. and I believe that everyone should be more knowledgeable of what mental health entails. Mental health affects everyone differently and its crazy to see how women are impacted compared to men. 50-100 years ago mental disorders were not taken seriously and if people were affected they were described as "manic" or "disconnected from society". It is important to bring light to these illnesses so we can learn how cope with mental health and be knowledgeable about what to do/say/act when someone we know is affected.

Kathy Luangrath

2/23/2020 04:24:54 pm

Hi Christine! I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I would agree that gender is extremely important and very relevant to the discourse in relation to mental health as there are so many underlying issues and factors that contribute to gender-specific issues. I also found myself very enlightened when reading Stigma and Discrimination excerpt. I think many factors play into individuals having false beliefs. I think culture and social perceptions of gender are extremely important in understanding this discourse. For example, as a female, I am seen as emotional as a result of historical and social influences.

I would agree that individuals should be more open to educate themselves in order to better understand what others go through. I think this is extremely important in creating a less stigmatized environment. Everyone (or possibly many) have mental health. Thus, creating a better environment to freely be open is so crucial!

Samantha Sinclair

2/23/2020 07:19:56 pm

HI Christine, I enjoyed your post. Mental illness contributes to a burden of physical diseases. It should be treated with the same urgency as any physical disease, but unfortunately this is not the case. The stigma and shame behind disorders such as depression and anxiety can prevent individuals from seeking help. One of my goals is to create a program that educates on mental illness, creates a safe space for people to talk and provides resources for help. I am currently working at Mercy House in Lynnwood creating a program for their Kids Club. It is a work in progress, but I am trying to find ways to de-stigmatize mental health. Talking about it can help educate kids about what it is and healthy ways to cope and seek help.

Nhi My Ly

2/23/2020 09:55:54 pm

Hi Christine, your blog post was very interesting to read. Thank you for pointing out different factors of how gender relates to mental health. I especially liked how you talked about stigma because I remember from one of the articles that women who are diagnosed with specific mental health illness are more likely to face stigma and discrimination. Therefore, making women less likely than men to seek treatment. This particularly affects women of color more than other individuals. I definitely agree with you about a part of the reason why stigma exist is because people don't know much about a certain disease and don't care enough to look into it. I think being able to educate ourselves and others can reduce stigma surrounding mental health as well as making it a priority.

Christine Nguyen

2/24/2020 12:08:43 am

To everyone who commented:

THANK YOU!
I appreciate your thoughts and opinions about how gender effects mental health. I hope you all were able to gain valuable information from this blog post as well as this week's readings!

Danielle Lee

2/24/2020 05:19:35 pm

Hi Christine!

Wow, I am in love with your blog post. Thank you for speaking up about the negative stigmas involved with mental health and behavioral disorders. It's extremely frustrating to see and hear individuals that don't suffer with mental health speak negatively on it. The miscommunication and lack of understanding is what needs to be addressed. Thank you for bringing up the statistics about the working class and especially making it about the ones viewed as disabled.

Joo Kang

2/26/2020 12:26:20 pm

I just love how you titled your post! I also do believe that is it important realize your mental health but also help others and encourage them to talk about stigma of seeking help due to mental illness. Also as a women, when we act emotionally, we get judged as "too emotional... such girly thing to do" when we all have feeling and emotions. From your post, I started to think about how we as a generation to educate younger generation about mental health and of its important because schools never talk about this. It is very interesting post, and thank you sharing with all of us!

Jordan Tomas

3/1/2020 09:27:31 pm

Hi Christine!

Mental health has become a rising topic over the years and it is important to address in relation to women's health. The stigmas of mental health and women can drastically affect how women are treated and people tend to treat using our emotions as a negative trait and that women have to "stay in their lane." However, what people underestimate is that our emotions, especially for women, can be one of our greatest weapons because our emotions allows us to feel and express our needs in ways that cannot be expressed with a stoic expression. Sometimes, our emotions are what drives us to succeed in a tough world. With mental health, we have to normalize the conversation surrounding the issue and allow everyone to not be afraid of expressing oneself even against the stigmas and prejudices.

Raiye Abunie

3/7/2020 09:04:24 pm

Hello Christine,

As you mentioned in your class blog post, regarding gender relations and inequalities, I feel as though gender plays a huge role in mental health as well as domestic violence and intimate partner violence. Like mental health, gender inequalities in households also “affects the power and control men and women have over socioeconomic determinants, their access to resources, and their status, roles, options and treatment in society.” This can lead to detrimental factors such as physical, emotional as well as mental abuse. Women face multiple determinants and obstacles at home, work, school etc. These obstacles create a strain and a psychological trauma on ones health, especially woman. As a community and a population at large, we need to discuss and provide resources to women who often believe they cannot seek help due to stigma or fear of their partners reactions, etc.

The Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated

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