And sometimes doctors and other health care professionals fail to recognize and treat depression and other mental disorders. Yet, effective treatments are available for many disorders. And there is similar good news for other disorders. Research has yielded an impressive armamentarium of new medications with fewer side effects as well as specific psychotherapies that can help many people. For example, for an anxiety disorder called panic disorder, treatment medications or cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy can improve the lives of 70 to 90 percent of people, mostly women, suffering from the disorder.
Women often have care-giving responsibilities for their parents as well as their children.
When women have mental health problems, it can affect the well-being of three generations. Why certain mental disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders affect more women than men is part of an intense, NIMH-supported research effort. Sophisticated epidemiological studies have provided a clear picture of the specific differences in the prevalence of these disorders between men and women. Before adolescence and late in life, females and males experience depression with the same frequency, according to epidemiological research. Because the gender difference in depression is not expressed until after puberty and ends following menopause, it is hypothesized that hormonal factors are involved in women's greater vulnerability.