{"id":7291,"date":"2019-03-08T09:11:39","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T09:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thechelseapsychologyclinic.com\/how-having-it-all-can-diminish-womens-mental-health\/"},"modified":"2025-01-31T15:56:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T15:56:25","slug":"how-having-it-all-can-diminish-womens-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thechelseapsychologyclinic.com\/blog\/how-having-it-all-can-diminish-womens-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u201chaving it all\u201d can diminish women\u2019s mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Up until around the 1970s, the term \u2018superhero\u2019 typically conjured visions of caped men in comic books fighting off bad guys for fun, rescuing small fluffy animals and just generally saving the day. Fast forward to modern times and the term superhero, or just the terms super or hero, are now being applied to the women who do it all \u2013 the women who raise kids, run a business, maintain their physique, socialise and keep the spark alive in their relationship, possibly while caring for elderly parents and writing a screenplay on the side.<\/p>\n

Women can now do it all. But is this the dream women thought it would be? Are there unknown side effects or downsides? Is this what the women of the 1960s fought for\u00a0during the feminist movement? In this article, we\u2019re going to explore the psychological impact modern life has on women in general and see how both men and women can work together to create a more balanced future.<\/p>\n

In some ways, women have a natural edge over men<\/h3>\n

From a psychological perspective, women\u2019s readiness to talk about their feelings<\/a>\u00a0and their ability to open up to people in general, go a long way to helping them navigate stress<\/a> and protect their mental health over the long term. Women are also noted as having high emotional intelligence, they are more adaptable and are capable of great empathy<\/a>. Many recent studies are showing that soft skills lead to hard results. Organisations such as FedEx, L\u2019Oreal and Volvo have improved their bottom lines, simply by training their employees on how to employ soft-skill principles.<\/p>\n

However, women are more prone to depression than<\/h3>\n

According to research quoted by Dr Joel L Young<\/a>, women are roughly 40% more likely to develop depression. Women are also twice as likely to develop PTSD<\/a>, and there are about 10% of women who develop this condition straight after trauma, compared to just 4% of men.<\/p>\n

Dr Young also notes that women\u2019s symptoms are sometimes just written off as being emotional in nature, while men\u2019s complaints are taken more seriously. Say for example, a woman reports chronic pain to her doctor. She might be labelled as depressed. Whereas, if a man came in with a similar complaint \u2013 he might be referred to a physical therapist or pain clinic.<\/p>\n

Because research fluctuates regarding studies between men and women, it can be difficult to precisely pinpoint how women\u2019s mental health is in comparison to men\u2019s mental health. However, from our experience at the clinic, while we have noticed more men come in over recent years, we usually find women typically make up the majority of our client base for certain areas at any given time.<\/p>\n

Women are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety<\/h3>\n

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, \u201cfrom puberty to the age of 50, women are twice as likely as men to develop an anxiety disorder<\/a>.\u201d This includes extreme fear or worry, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, panic attacks, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder<\/a>, selective mutism and separation anxiety.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to know what the signs and symptoms are to look out for:<\/p>\n