Mental illness affects women differently than men - not only in prevalence and symptoms, but also in how it's perceived, diagnosed, and treated. Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression and anxiety, yet the discrepancies run far deeper.

One global study found that women are nearly twice as likely as men to suffer from mental illness, and this gender disparity significantly correlates with social inequality and gender inequality.

A Swedish study found that women are 44% more likely to be diagnosed with depression and 31% more likely to take antidepressant medication than men. Even after controlling for higher rates of mental health conditions in women, women still receive disproportionate numbers of mental health diagnoses and mood-altering drug prescriptions. This suggests that gender stereotypes continue to influence clinical judgment in ways that may either lead to overdiagnosis in women or underdiagnosis in men.

A Belgian study of adolescents found consistent gender differences in psychological distress, anxiety, and depression, with girls reporting significantly higher scores than boys across multiple measures. This pattern begins early in life and persists through adulthood, indicating that gender disparities in mental health emerge during critical developmental periods.

A shocking fact that underlies many contemporary disparities is that women were largely excluded from scientific healthcare research before 1990 and weren't required to be included in National Institutes of Health-funded studies until 1993. This........

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