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MENTAL HEALTH FACT SHEETS
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Women's Mental Health Issues
Mental illnesses affect women and men differently - some disorders are more common in women, and some express themselves with different symptoms.
Why Are Women At Risk?
Only now are we beginning to understand the contribution of various biological and psychosocial factors to mental health and mental illness in both women and men. Today's research efforts are helping clarify the risk and protective factors for mental disorders in women and to improve women's mental health treatment outcomes. Researchers are currently studying the special problems of treatment for serious mental illness during pregnancy and the postpartum period. These important studies on women's health have grown substantially in the last 20 years.
Depressive Disorders
In the U.S., nearly twice as many women (12.0 percent) as men (6.6 percent) are affected by a depressive disorder each year. These figures translate to 12.4 million women and 6.4 million men. Depressive disorders include major depression, dysthymic disorder (a less severe but more chronic form of depression), and bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness).
Research shows that before adolescence and late in life, females and males experience depression at about the same frequency. Because the gender difference in depression is not seen until after puberty and decreases after menopause, scientists hypothesize that hormonal factors are involved in women's greater vulnerability. Stress due to psychosocial factors, such as multiple roles in the home and at work and the increased likelihood of women to be poor, at risk for violence and abuse, and raising children alone, also playa role in the development of depression.
While many women report some history of premenstrual mood changes and physical symptoms, an estimated 3 to 4 percent suffer severe symptoms that significantly interfere with work and social functioning. This impairing form of premenstrual syndrome, also called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), appears to be an abnormal response to normal hormone changes. Women with susceptibility to depression may be more vulnerable to the mood-shifting effects of hormones.
Postpartum depression is a serious disorder where the hormonal changes following childbirth combined with psychosocial stresses such as sleep deprivation may produce a disabling effect among some women with an apparent underlying vulnerability .Currently, national research is evaluating the use of antidepressant medication and psychosocial interventions following delivery to prevent postpartum depression in women with a history of this disorder.
Researchers have recently found that women who suffer depression as they enter the early stages of menopause may find estrogen to be an alternative to traditional antidepressants. The efficacy of this female hormone was comparable to that usually reported with antidepressants in perimenopausal women meeting standardized criteria for depression.
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders, which include panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder, affect an estimated 13.3 percent of Americans ages 18 to 54 in a given year, or about 19.1 million adults in this age group. Women outnumber men in each illness category except for OCD and social phobia, in which both sexes have an equal likelihood of being affected.
Results from government supported surveys have shown that a female's risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following trauma is twice that of males. PTSD is characterized by persistent symptoms of fear that occur after experiencing events such as rape or other criminal assault, war, child abuse, natural disasters, or serious accidents. Nightmares, flashbacks, numbing of emotions, depression, and feeling angry , irritable, or distracted and being easily startled are common. Females also are more likely to develop long-term symptoms than males and have higher rates of co-occurring medical and psychiatric problems than males with the disorder.
Eating Disorders
Females comprise the vast majority of people with an eating disorder-anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are not due to a failure of will or behavior; rather, they are real, treatable illnesses. In addition, eating disorders often co-occur with depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders, and also cause serious physical health problems. Eating disorders call for a comprehensive treatment plan involving medical care and monitoring, psychotherapy, nutritional counseling, and medication management.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is the most chronic and disabling of the mental disorders, affecting about 1 percent of women and men worldwide. In the U.S., an estimated 2.2 million adults, about half of them women, have schizophrenia. The illness typically appears earlier in men, usually in their late teens or early 20s, than in women, who are generally affected in their 20s or early 30s. In addition, women may have more depressive symptoms, paranoia, and auditory hallucinations than men and tend to respond better to typical antipsychotic medications. A significant proportion of women with schizophrenia experience increased symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum.
Alzheimer's Disease
The main risk factor for developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD), a dementing brain disorder that leads to the loss of mental and physical functioning and eventually to death, is increased age. Studies have shown that while the number of new cases of Alzheimer's is similar in older adult women and men, the total number of existing cases is somewhat higher among women.
Caregivers of a person with Alzheimer's Disease are usually family members-often wives and daughters. The chronic stress often associated with the care-giving role can contribute to mental health problems; indeed, caregivers are much more likely to suffer from depression than the average person. Since women in general are at greater risk for depression than men, female caregivers of people with Alzheimer's may be particularly vulnerable to depression.
Dual Diagnosis
Rimrock Foundation is a nationally recognized treatment center for the treatment of dual diagnoses. The term "dual diagnosis" refers to the presence of one or more addictions complicated by a psychiatric disorder such as major depression.
These patients represent a challenge to treatment professionals. They frequently utilize services from both fields and are often shuttled back and forth between numerous treatment systems. They are more prone to relapse and are often the most difficult clients to treat effectively because of their many problems. Dual diagnosis patients require the comprehensive, flexible Rimrock Foundation treatment approach that recognizes their special needs and provides integrated treatment for the multiple disorders identified.
Rimrock Foundation meets the needs of these patients and their families with our state-of-the-art assessment and treatment approaches. Essential in the process is close collaboration among our multidisciplinary professionals including a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric social workers, and certified chemical dependency counselors.
The Path To Healing
Many people with mental illnesses can be helped with treatment. Therapy for disorders often involves medication or specific forms of psychotherapy. Medications, although not cures, can be very effective at relieving symptoms. Today, thanks to research, there are more medications available than ever before to treat these disorders. Many people do best with a combination of these therapies.
When looking for a health care professional, it's important to inquire about what kinds of therapy he or she generally uses or whether medications are available. Patients should feel comfortable with the therapy. If this is not the case, they should seek help elsewhere. When taking medications, patients should not quit certain drugs abruptly, but should taper them off under the supervision of a physician.
When patients find health care professionals they're satisfied with, everyone should be working as a team. Developing a joint plan to treat mental illness may involve medications, behavioral therapy, or cognitive- behavioral therapy, as appropriate. Treatments for mental disorders, however, may not start working instantly.
Rimrock Foundation has four newly licensed Crisis Stabilization beds available for patients who may need a short-term stay for the purpose of stabilizing them on prescribed medications or who may need a safe place with medical monitoring and evaluation but who do not require the full services of an acute psychiatric facility. These beds serve as an alternative to hospitalization and may be accessed by referral from the patient's physician, case manager or therapist. Call our Crisis Program Coordinator or our Admissions Department for more information or to make a referral.
For further information on Rimrock Foundation's treatment of mental illnesses, call Barbara Hansen, Admissions Supervisor at 1-800-227-3953 or 1-406-248-3175, or visit our website at rimrock.org. For more educational information on any of the Mental Health issues mentioned in this Fact Sheet, contact the Rimrock Foundation Library at 1-800-227-3953 or 1-406-248-3175.
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