The gender distribution of depression in China is basically the same, and the number of women is roughly 65438+ 0.8 times that of men.
So many people will ask, are women more vulnerable, more emotional and more willing to expose their pain than men?
The answer is no.
Taking patients with severe mental illness as an example, the statistical results of the National Health and Family Planning Commission in 20 15 years show that there are 4.297 million patients with severe mental illness in China, of which the ratio of male to female is 1.07: 1, and the number of male patients is larger than that of female patients.
Then why is the proportion of women more specific to depression?
This is because women are more prone to internalization obstacles (various emotions and emotional problems within individuals) under stress events, while men are more prone to externalization obstacles (generally various behavioral problems).
It is arbitrary to think that women are more vulnerable, more vulnerable and less able to bear pressure, so they are more prone to psychological disorders.
In fact, whether men and women have mental illness has nothing to do with physical strength.
It is generally believed that women's emotional expression ability is stronger and more emotional.
Of course, it is easy to find that women will show more laughter and tears in their lives, and there is also evidence that women's facial expressions are more obvious when expressing their emotions.
So psychologist McDu f and others explored the duration of expressions in many emotional States through experiments to judge the gender differences of emotions (eyebrows, eyes, lips, etc.).
The results show that the emotional gender difference is only that women show stronger happiness and sadness, while men show stronger anger.
We can't kidnap anyone's emotional expression with gender differences, or even misinterpret it from the perspective of emotional expression rising to personal ability and moral quality.
Basic emotions such as joy, anger, sadness and fear can be blended into thousands of emotions like the three primary colors of red, yellow and blue.
Emotion is an innate instinct of human beings and an indispensable part of brain and thinking. Both men and women have emotions, and they need to learn to accept them and express them appropriately.
Many people think that women will show more pain after depression, and then they will be discovered.
Just like a cold, people with weak immunity will have more serious symptoms.
So what are the different performances of men and women after suffering from depression?
Different from our inherent cognition, the typical feature that looks more "fragile" is not more obvious for women, but an atypical feature that is more obvious than men.
As far as the course of disease (remission, recurrence and delay) is concerned, there is no significant difference between men and women.
Moreover, there are two points to note:
1. The suicide success rate of men is significantly higher than that of women;
2. The mortality caused by depression is higher in men than in women.
It can be seen that in the face of the danger brought by the disease, women are not more painful, and men are not spared.
Since everyone seems to be equal in the face of illness, why does the prevalence of female depression remain high?
As we know, according to the bio-psychological-social model, the causes include environmental and social factors besides congenital conditions.
What are the factors that we can't ignore at present?
? 1. Gender income inequality
The World Health Organization found in the survey that the inclination of employment and social resources greatly increased the incidence of gender inequality and mental disorders.
? 2. Different life centers
According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, women often spend several times as much time on unpaid work (housework and voluntary work) as men.
3. More specific physical and mental challenges
Perinatal and menopausal physical and mental changes are inevitable stress challenges for most women.
According to the American Journal of Maternal and Child Health, 13% of women will suffer from postpartum depression (PPD) within 1 year after delivery.
Although men will have similar psychological periods, they are often not obvious at the level of "meaning" because there is no drastic physiological change.
? 4. More likely to face violence
More physical/sexual violence, or forced marriage and childbirth in some areas, will increase the risk of depression for women.
These environmental/social factors may explain why women are more likely to suffer from depression.
There is no doubt that the "innate determinism" that women are more prone to depression is wrong.
Female depression may be influenced by comprehensive factors such as cultural environment, social role and pressure challenge.
Women are not weak, and many times they even show strength beyond imagination.
Men are not strong and need timely help and care as much as possible in the face of crisis.
When it comes to depression and various mental diseases, men and women also need to "de-label".
Reviewer: Xu Peng, Deputy Chief Physician and Psychotherapist?
Editor in charge: marine fish
Illustration: Miss Li
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