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Mental Health Awareness Week: Women more prone to mental illness than men

Monday 8th May 2017
Women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and depression than men, according to a new report. Image: mactrunk via iStock
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    Women are more likely to suffer from anxiety or depression than their male counterparts, according to a new report released to coincide with the start of Mental Health Awareness Week (Monday May 8th to Sunday May 14th).

    The theme for this year's awareness week is 'Surviving or Thriving?', as the Mental Health Foundation aims to increase understanding of how people can tell whether others are well or struggling to put on a brave face, and where help can be found if the latter is the case.

    A new report from the charity behind the week-long awareness event conducted in association with the NatCen research institute found that 70 per cent of women have experienced a mental health problem of some kind at one point during their lives, in comparison to 60 per cent of men.

    Almost half (45 per cent) of women have struggled with depression, compared to 40 per cent of men, while nearly one-third of females have suffered a panic attack in the past in contrast to 19 per cent of males, the Daily Mail reports.

    The Mental Health Foundation explained that there are several reasons why women may be more likely to struggle with their mental health. For example, they typically face more pressure from society to look good, while often being the ones left to juggle household responsibilities with raising the children when a relationship ends.

    Jenny Edwards, chief executive of the organisation, explained: "Women have much the same worries as men, when it comes to money, careers and relationships, but they also tend to have the emotional burden of worrying more about the relationships in their lives."

    It was also found that younger people are more likely to report poor mental health, with the charity believing this may be due to older individuals tending to take part in more activities that are known to improve mental health and wellbeing, such as eating healthily and going for regular walks.

    Ms Edwards continued: "We know that only a minority of people experiencing mental ill health access professional support, which means that we need to redouble our efforts to prevent these problems from developing in the first place."

    Written by Angela Newbury

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