Mental Health is something that anyone can struggle with at some point in their life. Each person may experience mental health problems in an area. Men and women are often highlighted as having a certain type of mental health struggle due to their gender. Issues such as aggression, addiction and anger are often associated with men. Women often are connected to emotional struggles such as anxiety and depression. In reality, everyone can and does struggle with the vast amount of ways that your mental health can be hindered.
Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with a mental health condition or receive support and treatment. Emotional struggles are not the only spaces that many women struggle with. Prescription drug use has been coming on the rise in the past ten years within women. For many years prescription drug abuse was only studied in men and assumed that women did not struggle with it significantly. Women struggle with addiction differently physically and emotionally. There are also stigmas and different relational aspects that impact women who struggle with addiction. Men with mental illnesses are less likely to receive mental health treatment than women. However, men are more likely to die by suicide than women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Addiction can look differently in each person’s life. If you think someone you know may be struggling, there are ways you can approach them and check in.
No matter how your struggles may impact your mental health, they are valid and worth healing from and combating. Talking about what you are dealing with is a great first place to begin your healing journey and Journey Counselling has an incredible staff to support you in that.
