Topic 6: Women and Mental Health Issues {by 11/1}
Chapters 15 – “Women and Mental Health Issues” is due this week (11/1 & 11/6). Address the following discussion points: (1) What did you find most interesting in Chapter 15 about gender considerations in the development of mental health disorders (chapter largely focused on depression, alcoholism, and eating disorders)? (2) What are your thoughts on therapeutic approaches when treating women with mental health problems (i.e., is this topic relevant?)? Your original post should be posted by 11/1. Have your two replies no later than 11/3. *Please remember to click the “reply” button when posting a reply. This makes it easier for the reader to follow the blog postings.
Dr. Adam M Volungis 
Oct 30, 2012 @ 15:44:13
The first thing that stood out to me in this chapter was the notion that early puberty is a disadvantage to girls but it is an advantage for boys. One of my best friends from high school developed very early and she explained to me how hard it was for her in middle school. She was called out by classmates and became very self conscious of her body. She also said that she was held to a higher standard by teachers and other adults because she looked older than her age. I can see how this would lead one to develop self esteem and body image issues at an early age.
In regard to eating disorders I was pretty surprised to see that almost 20% of college aged girls report having engaged in disordered eating behaviors such as bulimia. I agree with the book in that our culture’s obsession with thinness has a lot to do with anorexia and bulimia, but I think family issues are also a big part of the problem. After my friends mom died in high school she developed an eating disorder. It was very hard for me to understand at the time, but I learned that she was not starving herself simply to be skinny, but she was doing it because of control. It was the one factor of her life that she could successfully have full control over. The books mentions something along these lines with the “Systems theory and family therapy” concept. I believe that family interaction and communication has a lot to do with eating disorders. Just as the book states, some girls develop eating disorders because their lack of stability in their families. They can gain a sense of control by constricting how much they eat and attaining “success” by losing weight. I agree with the feminist perspective on the prevention of eating disorders. This perspective emphasizes the socialization if the individual and how they are reacting to pressures from pop culture and the media. I agree that the ideal weight is far to low in our culture. The book states that weight dissatisfaction is so common among females that is has now been termed “normative discontent”.
The feminist perspective on prevention of eating disorders also delves into the notion that in many cases the female who is anorexic can develop because of a failed relationship, thus giving the man the power. I feel like this is actually much more common than people think, especially in In the popular book “Fifty Shades of Grey”, the main character and her boyfriend break up at one point. After they part ways she feels as if she has no will to live and she doesn’t eat for almost a week. This example shows that she has given the man the power to control her self esteem and her happiness.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 15:51:25
I was shocked to see that 20% of college aged girls report having engaged in an eating disorder. I thought the percentage would have been higher for girls who are in high school. I think a media has a big influence on a girl’s weight; the typical model in a fashion magazine is 5’8 and weighs about 110 pounds. I think this sends out a bad message to young girls who are self conscious about their weight. From seeing these models, many girls strive to be thin like them which leads to starvation. I like how you used the book “Fifty Shades of Grey” as an example of how certain relationships also impact females weight.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 16:05:55
I agree with what you had to say about family playing a big in girls having eating disorder. In my experience, all the girls that I know that had an eating disorder also had an unstable relationship with her family. I didn’t really think about the correlation until now. I think that not having a good relationship with your family can also make it that much harder to overcome an eating disorder. It is really important to have support and understanding through the proccess.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 21:46:41
Hey, Anna, I really like what you had to say! I think that the example of your friend was interesting; it suggests that if women look a certain age, they are expected to act/be as mature as they look. To be honest, I’m not surprised by that 20% of college aged girls that have engaged in disordered eating; college age girls are most susceptible to the pressures to look ideal, and also, teen girls are huge consumers, and buy these teen magazines, and weight loss this and that marketed to them. I must say, I am weary of family therapy in treating eating disorders as many families have contributed negatively to the disorder, but perhaps with a therapist can help the family better understand how they’ve contributed, and give them tools to help the patient through the process of recovery. I thought it was interesting what you said about the main character of 50 shades, but I’m not sure I agree that she’s a woman relying on the male’s happiness, I think she’s probably nostalgic about the happiness they shared, and that she has just lost.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 08:50:53
In chapter 15 the whole part about puberty being an adavnatge for boys and not girls stood out to as well and I agree with your comments and have seen someone deal with the same experiences as your friend. At a young age if you hit puberty and your a boy, it’s a complete advantage, your bigger and stronger then most kids your age and can excell in sports and other things as well. On the other hand if your girl , you might become self concious about your body, and like you said be held to a higher standard. That isn’t really fair and unfortuante for adolosecents going through puberty.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 17:14:42
What I found most interesting in Chapter 15 was how much sexual misconduct there is by therapists. After a survey was taken it concluded that 5.5% of the male and .6% of the female psychologists admitted to having engaged in sexual intercourse with a client during a time the client was in therapy. In my opinion this seems rather creepy. You are going to a therapist to help you with your deeper issues and you end up sleeping with your therapist. It makes the therapist seem like he/she is taking advantage of the emotionally unstable client. The most disturbing part of this statistic to me is that 80% of these therapists repeated the act with other clients. These statistics make me a little sketched out by therapists.
Behavior therapy is the one therapeutic approach that really stood out to me. One of the reasons it stood out to me is because I have heard of this approach before in my intro to psychology course. It seems to be a reasonable approach to modify a behavior.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 18:03:05
I also found it surprising that 5.5% of male and .6% female psychologists engaged in sexual intercourse with their clients. This seems very wrong to me. Clients go to therapy trying to solve their problems, not add on to their problems. Therapists should know better than this and have more self-control to prevent this from happening.
Nov 02, 2012 @ 20:49:08
I agree I was disgusted by this. This is terrible and I couldn’t believe the percentages. This also seems very wrong and I cannot imagine this happening. I feel as though it is more of a fantasy for people however than a reality.
Nov 03, 2012 @ 13:31:09
I was also really shocked to read this, I guess it just isnt something I would expect from a professional.I agree with you in the fact that the therapist in the situation seems to be exploiting the patient which is sad and unethical. THis made me think of the statistic regarding the number of professors who engage in sexual relationships with students. It is scary to think of someone in that position taking advantage of their power.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 18:00:55
Chapter 15 discussed mental health disorders such as depression and eating disorders which are more common with women. However, alcoholism and drug abuse is more common with men rather than women. The ratio of males to females with alcohol abuse or dependence problems is about 3:1. In the United States about 14% of men and 5% of women between the ages 15-54 met the criteria for alcohol abuse. Alcoholism is more common in men because they have a higher tolerance rate of alcohol compared to women. There are fewer women who are alcoholics because it affects their health more compared to men. According to the text women are at a higher risk of getting breast cancer and having shrinkage in the brain if they abuse alcohol. I think there are a lot more male alcoholics then females because; women have more to worry about in their lives such as children, job and family. I found it interesting the connection between gender and ethnicity on alcohol abuse. I didn’t know that certain ethnicities have a higher alcohol abuse rate in women.
I think therapy is a good idea for women who suffer from mental health problems. They have the option to choose either a male or female clinician who can work with them to overall the problems they have. I found it a little scary that a lot of therapists are having sexual relationships with their clients. I was shocked to hear that 80% of therapists who have had sex with their clients and repeated the activity with other clients. I think that some therapists take advantage of their clients since some may be vulnerable. I also found it shocking that 90% of clients to have sex with their therapists are harmed by it since it may cause more emotional stress on them.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 14:47:51
I also agree with your comments that less women abuse alcohol because they have to worry about keeping their families together. Typically when the mother of a family loses control and becomes an alcoholic it is the start of the decline of their family. The kids no longer have that stable mother figure and typically fathers are at work making money so it is difficult for them to intervene.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 17:39:11
I also agree that women abuse alcohol less than men because they might have more risks. They have a higher chance of developing breast cancer and brain shrinkage. They also have lower tolerances than men.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 00:14:10
Avnee, I think it’s important that you mentioned the part about explanations for alcoholism by gender. While a few of these seem really possible, I feel like some allude to the idea that alcoholism is a choice, something that I don’t think is true for either gender. It would be interesting to discuss these more.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 18:46:55
Chapter 15: Women and Mental Health Issues had a lot of interesting information. In the section focusing on women and alcoholism, I found it surprising that only 5% of females (15-54), met the criteria for a diagnosable alcohol use disorder; although, a high percentage; I thought it’d be higher. I think my reason for assuming the percentage would be higher is because of my sample size; many female college students around me engage in unhealthy drinking.
Also, I learned, that female heavy drinkers are four times more likely to increase mortality rate than male heavy drinkers. One explanation for this may be that alcohol intake (even in moderate amounts) is correlated with an increased risk of breast cancer for females; alcohol raises the levels of some sex hormones known to increase the risk of breast cancer.
In the causes of gender differences in alcohol disorders, I read about how men experience more social pressure to drink, and this is where my college bias came in again. Living on a large university campus for 2 years, I often saw females being (socially) pressured to drink. In my freshman year, I remember hearing of a girl trying to get into a sorority, and that on a school night they had forced her to chug from a bottle of straight vodka, and when she wandered back to her dorm, alone and confused, a girl helped her to her room and to bed. Lastly, in the alcoholism section, I was surprised to find out that among teen girls, heavy drinking was most prevalent for American Indian girls; I assumed the tendency to drink heavily was most associated White females; again, I must admit bias, because the females I know, that I associate with heavy drinking are Caucasian. One thing that interested me in the drug section is that women are increasingly being legally charged for taking drugs while pregnant, and damaging the fetus; I am not sure how women can be legally charged for this. Most of the information on anorexia, and bulimia, I had previously known, but I did not know that females with anorexia reported having a high level of energy, even despite the minimal number of calories being taken in; I really cannot ascribe why this is!
I think, as the book suggests, that CBT is most effective in treating issues, and diagnoses. The thought process must be transformed, so as positive behavior will follow positive thoughts. For girls struggling with eating disorders, the disorganized thoughts about food and preoccupation with weight are never-ending, even when food isn’t present. I’m not surprised that antidepressants aren’t very effective in treating eating disorders; I personally think medicine is like a Band-Aid, in that it helps an ailment at it’s surface but does not treat deeper issues; again, depends on the issue, diagnosis, and individual! Further, I believe some antidepressants may inhibit treating ED’s, because some antidepressants cause weight gain, which can be very overwhelming for the sensitive patients being treated for. I think it’s interesting that throughout the course we have talked about males having power/control, over females, but for anorexia, and bulimia, it’s a matter of a female attempting to gain control/power over herself. These two disorders definitely are not just limited to the preoccupation with weight-control; there are deeper issues at hand. It is not surprising that these disorders are comorbid with depression, anxiety, OCD, etc., and therefore it is essential to treat attempt to treat multiple issues correlating to anorexia, and bulimia.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 14:50:53
i think that the stastistic about american indian girls being big abusers of alcohol dates back to the beginning of moving the native americans to reservations. It is well known that alcohol and drug abuse is a huge problem on these reservations because it is a very poor area and these individuals have been struggling for years to get themselves out of their situation.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 15:56:02
I never thought about it that way; thank you!
Oct 31, 2012 @ 16:01:53
I found the correlation with alcoholic women and breast cancer very interesting. Drinking causes raised levels in several sex hormones which is known to increase breast cancer risk. I didn’t know that until reading the chapter.
I liked what you had to say about there also being pressure on girl to drink. Especially in the college atmosphere, I have found that girls feel they need to drink and party in order to fit in and make friends. In college, if you don’t drink, some girls think that they are missing out on a big piece of the social aspect. Some girls even go as far as trying to keep up with the guys drinking. This can be really dangerous because girls are more effected by alcohol.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 12:14:20
What I found most interesting about chapter 15 on Women and Mental Health Issues the concept of the ABC model. The diagram is very complex, so I would like to learn more about it to understand. A- stands for Affective (emotional) vulnerability. B- stands for Biological vulnerability and C- stands for Cognitive vulnerability. Genetics could be associated with puberty in males and females alike. The Affective vulnerability refers mainly to temperament and how negative emotions have been associated with depression. There are children who are high in negative emotionality in which they get easily upset, fearful and sad. THey are essentially highly sensitive to negative stimuli. I thought this to be very interesting because I wonder if these children are so affected because of their life history? Possibly verbal abuse, physical abuse? The Cognitive vulnerability refers to someone being totally negative and believing that their life events will only be negative. This makes me think of a very pessimistic person and someone who has their glass half empty all of the time. We have all heard the saying, “would you rather have your glass half full or half empty?” We should always say “half full!” Yes, we are all get negative at times, it’s only human. Though, these people cannot seem to see the positives in each situation that they are in. They ONLY look for the negatives and say, “I must have got an F on that exam because I am stupid.” You are NOT stupid. Negative thoughts lead to the negative behavior patterns.
I feel that psychoanlysis is something that can work for some people and not others. I have learned about this theory from Freud in many of my psychology classes. Therefore, I can make my own opinion. I feel as if I don’t totally understand why it can be biased in the whole penis envy theory? Not sure if someone can explain that to me. I believe that people DO have repressed thoughts and feelings that stem from childhood. Talk therapy is most likely essential in these cases which allows the patient to freely talk about their life currently and even in their past. I feel that this therapy can work, if done apprpriately.
I’m not so much a fan of the behavior therapy. I feel as if people can not be desensitized unless they truly believe that they want to over come a specific phobia. I have not actually seen it happen for someone in person, but I feel that it would not be the most effective way to help someone. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is a newer advanced therapy that allows the therapist and patient to look at dysfunctional behaviors and also dysfunctional thought patterns. I believe that this therapy would be most effective because the patient is identifying what they are thinking when they have say, a specific fear. I know from my life that my thought patterns are what have impacted me with my anxiety.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 08:47:21
I also found the ABC model to be really interestig and I agree with your comments about it and questions. It makes me wonder if some of the individuals had a choice or if they were just genetically like that or if it was their past history.
Nov 02, 2012 @ 20:52:03
That also makes me wonder if they were forced or if it was a choice. I feel as though it could be split half and half. Maybe some people want their image to be portrayed in that way or maybe some women were forced for financial or social reasons.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 15:51:46
What I found most interesting about chapter 15 was anorexia. I learned a lot about the disorder. Before reading the chapter I thought of anorexia as someone starving themselves. After reading, I realize its a lot more than that. Its a refusal to be above a certain weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of ones body. Anorexia is also not just about wanting to be thin. Its about taking control. The chapter describes the eating disorder as an obsession.
The chapter also states that more than 90 percent of anorexics are female. This statistic didn’t surprise me. It just goes to show how there is a lot more pressure on females than males to be thin. The feminist perspective discusses our societies obsession with thinness. Many women strive to look like models they see in magazines or actresses they see on TV. In reality, the average model and actress today weighs less than 95 percent of the female population in the US. Therefore, striving to be the same size as one seems almost impossible. This makes me think of what a Barbie doll looks like. If she were a real person she would not be healthy at all. Her boobs are too big and she is too skinny. However, in our culture Barbie has the perfect body. I saw a Nike ad the other say saying “Healthy is the new skinny.” I really hope this means that our society is changing their perspective on skinniness. People should strive to be fit, healthy, and strong, rather than wanting to look like a Barbie.
The therapeutic approaches when treating women with mental health problems seem to be about empowering the women. The chapter discusses feminist therapy. It discusses focusing on women strengths other than her weaknesses. There is also assertiveness training which helps women to stand up for themselves and speak their mind without being aggressive.
I think that some women need more help than others when it comes to empowerment and assertiveness. This could have to do with insecurities within themselves.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 22:03:27
Hey, Morgan, I really like what you had to say! Anorexia and bulimia are complex disorders, and they both entail control as a key factor. Bulimia is a bit different in that it involves a loss of control (binging), and a regain of control over oneself (eliminating calories consumed during binge). Did you know if a female had the same proportions as Barbie she literally would not be able to walk? Ridiculous!
Nov 01, 2012 @ 20:05:33
I just learned about the barbie scenario too! she technically would not be able to stand or bare to have children she would physically not be able to carry a child inside her. What girl wants to be that unhealthy?! not me!
Oct 31, 2012 @ 17:15:28
One of the most interesting things I found in Chapter 15 was the data about female models. It said that a generation ago, female models weighed only about 8% less than the average American woman. By 1990, female models weighed about 23% less. Today, the average model, dancer, or actress weighs less and looks thinner than 95% of the female population in the United States. I thought the way these numbers increased so fast was unbelievable. I think these numbers are way too high. They are influencing women in America to become as skinny as they are. I believe this has a huge reason of why so many women have eating disorders. They believe they must look exactly the way these models do. The book also stated that the gap between ideal and actual women’s bodies is only increasing. The skinnier these models look, the more women are going to think that they are too fat, and will eventually develop eating disorders. I agree with the feminist perspective which emphasizes the socialization practices and media messages of our society, rather than the pathology of the individual. Society emphasizes thinness by saying “A woman can never be too thin.” All American women are exposed to this as they grow up, and eventually start to believe it. I think the way models are portrayed need to be reevaluated so that women in society do not get the wrong idea.
I thought the new therapies for women, like the feminist theory, were interesting. I have never heard of them before. The feminist theory has a list of assumptions and principles that must be followed. Empowerment is a key factor of feminist theory, which I think is a good thing. I think it is good for clients to be able to discover their strengths and develop new ones to use in situations that might cause them stress. Women can also be trained in assertiveness. Men tend to have more than women, so it is important for women to be able to stand up for themselves.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 20:41:54
I agree with you and think that empowerment is a key factor of the feminist theory. I like how the therapist and client are equal in therapy process. I think it’s good that women can be empowered by the therapist’s encouragement. It makes women more assertive and they can stand up for themselves. I also agree with you in that it’s good for clients to discover their strengths and devolve new ones.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 00:17:57
I completely agree with your comments about models impact on eating disorders, and while I think your views are being shared more often by important figures in society, it is an idea that cannot be stressed enough in my opinion.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 00:10:56
1. In Chapter 15, the most interesting part for me to read was definitely the explanation the ABC model as an explanation for depression. I have heard various genetic and social explanations for depression, but never any so clearly broken down and explained as this particular model. At first I took offense to the Biological vulnerabilities part of ABC, but with the explanation of why/how early puberty affects girls through sexualization and teasing, I began to understand its validity. In the ‘C’ part of the model, I thought the negative cognitive style common actions were important even for those without depression; concluding that a negative event implies bad things about oneself is something we all victim to and, should we read it in such plain terms, we might all realize what a foolish and self-destructive action this is to commit.
2. Of course I think therapeutic approaches are relevant and important, but with certain mental disorders (like depression, for example) I think that medicine must be considered in addition to therapy as treatment, as I believe that some things cannot simply be talked through but are more of a chemical imbalance that needs to be addressed, as well.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 08:44:42
The first thing that stood out to me in Chapter 15 about the mental disorders was the drug abuse part. Table 15.1 really interested becayse it showed percentages of women and men who have used certain drugs in the last 30 days. Men were higher in every category of drug which I find different. I would have thought that maybe the percentage in any psychotherapeutic drug or methamphetamine would be higher in women. Sure enough though, those two drug categoires held the closest similarity of percentages between men and women. The other section of chapter 15 that seemed interesting was the Anorexia Nervosa part. The stereotype and at least what I thought it mostly/only women deal with the eating disorder. I came to find out that 90 percent of anorexics are females. Reading that proved that my sterotype was right. But it was scary to think that 90 percent were females, it shows how women worry more about their appearance.
I feel like some of the therapeutic treatments in helping women with mental health problems are efficient while others dont help the cause. For example I feel like the family therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy for anorexia could be really helpful. Changing the way one thinks about themselves and everyone around them, while having peoeple who care about them all around, could be really benificial. On the other hand however Antidepressants don’t seem like they would actually help the cause, I feel like it would just make the individual dependant on that drug as soon as they are off it, things go back to normal. It even says in the text that there is little evidence that antidepressants are efffective. Then again antidepressants could be helpful in other mental health cases while the other two treatments/approaches might not be as useful.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 10:46:20
That is interesting that 90 percent of anorexics are women. I would have thought the percentage would be lower because there are a lot of men out there. I did not want to stereotype that women were higher in anorexia but I guess they really are by a high percentage. It is scary to know that there are so many women out there that are suffering and are concerned with their image. It shows how much the media really has an affect on women or the high amount them that are struggle with psychological disorders that affect their eating habits.
Nov 03, 2012 @ 13:41:39
I feel like this ties back into how the media presents women are objects that are only valued for their physical attraction. It is disturbing that so many women are suffering from this. I know certain companies such as Dove have campaigns featuring “real women” but it does not seem to be trending much in the fashion industry.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 11:12:33
I also found that I had questions about the ABC model. I agree that I feel like more women than men use drugs to help cope with General Anxiety Disorder, Deperession, Mania, etc. It is VERY scary that 90% of women have eating disorders! I truly believe that our media plays a HUGE role in how women think about their appearances. It is funny because back in the 50’s women who were a little heavier, with curves were thought of as “ideal” and men liked it.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 20:04:22
I agree totally about media playing a huge role in the reason so many girls suffer from these disorders. I also agree with you Chris about anti-depressants becoming addicting but at the same time they are meant to increase or balance out your levels of chemicals in your body so I believe they could either help in some situations or not help others.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 10:38:34
In Chapter 15 I read some pretty interesting things however what stuck out the most was the correlation between women and alcoholism. I am currently taking an addictions class so the numbers are not as surprising to me however there is much research that alcoholism is more popular in men than women. IN my class we talk about how lifestyles and body weight and self-esteem have a lot to do with people’s addictions. I agree that men experience the pressures of drinking because it is cool and everyone else is doing it. This is especially popular as we talked about in fraternities. My boyfriend is in a fraternity and I can see how alcoholics come from that environment. There is drinking whenever they want and when many of them do drink they drink a lot! There is also a certain expectation to uphold with how much alcohol you can handle and if you do not hold to that expectation you are simply made fun of or pressured into drinking anyways and can get very sick from this. I am not saying all fraternities are bad but many of them show this pressure of drinking. It is how many people see it as fun but it can also be dangerous and lead to problems in the future if one does not know how to handle him in this type of environment.
I feel that females can also become alcoholics. The typical time you see female’s drink is when they are drinking with friends or at a party and everyone else is. However I feel that females drink more socially than males. But, if they drink too much or become addicted they are in trouble. I think women are easily talked into things and so if they are talked into having too many drinks one time and then another they are reliant on the alcohol and then their drinking habits become a major problem.
I also found it interesting reading that alcohol raises women’s sex hormones and can cause breast cancer. The immediate thought is everything you do causes cancer but I think that with all of the research alcohol can play a significant role in having breast cancer one day. I especially find this to be true because one of my good family friends just passed about from cancer. She enjoyed drinking very much and I feel that this had a major impact of her sickness.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 10:49:18
I agree that it is not surprising that men are higher in the number of alcoholics. Men are constantly pressured to be like the rest of the guys who can drink a lot. Anytime they go out, especially for older men, there is drinking involved which starts at one and leads to more. Men tend to go drink when they are having a bad day or going through rough times while women tend to talk to friends about it. Especially in college and like you said a fraternity, it is expected that these men drink because alcohol is everywhere and hard to sneak by without drinking.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 10:42:27
In Chapter 15 I found the ABC model interesting. The part about how it is used as a vulnerability-stress model was so different. I have never heard or even knew that there was such a thing. The Human Genome Project has done research to find that there are at least a dozen or more genes that are vulnerable to depression. I always thought depression was only caused by certain events that make a person sad and without treatment or the situations getting better, they lead into depression. I did not think we were born with different types of genes that could increase our chance of becoming depressed. Researches did studies on children who suffered low, high, or no maltreatment. For children who had the s/s gene (s being the vulnerability gene), whether they suffered maltreatment or not still suffered depression or were at high risk of it. As for children who had the l gene they suffered no depression with no maltreatment and very low depression whether they had high or any maltreatment. This was shocking that a big part of depression is caused by genetic factors. Some people really cannot fix their depression and are more prone to it because they were born that way.
For the therapeutic approaches I found the behavior therapy one interesting. It is based on principles of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. The psychologists look at the behavior that is causing the person problems with their daily lives or controlling their behaviors in general. Some psychologists use the reward and punishment system. When the person does something good to control their behavior they are rewarded while when they do something that is problematic in their behavior they are punished. They try to do this to control their behavior so that they know which behavior is correct. They also talked about the systematic desensitization which is a treatment used to treat phobias. I remember seeing this in a video where they tried to have the woman relax and little by little they would use techniques to try to get her over her fear of snakes.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 11:15:04
What I found most interesting concerning gender considerations in the development of mental heath disorders was that women are more likely to be depressed than men, with a 2:1 ratio. Studies have concluded that girls are no more likely to be depressed than boys until the age of 13. This is when girls’ depressive symptoms begin to increase and boys’ symptoms remain constant. There are many possible reasons as to why this occurs such as biological, emotional, and cognitive factors. I believe this most likely occurs because women experience a lot of oppression in school environments and work environments from their male counterparts causing a lot of stress. Women are pressured to conform to specific gender and social norms. I also believe a contributing factor is women are the more emotional sex due to biological factors making them more susceptible and vulnerable to depression.
I believe psychoanalysis to treat women is not an effective or beneficial approach. Since it is based on Freud’s theory, its central concepts are sex biased and could only serve to worsen women’s feelings of oppression from males. Feminists have heavily criticized this approach and I would like to know how common this therapy is today. I believe feminist therapy is a great treatment for women. It focuses on women’s strength rather than their weaknesses. Clients are also encouraged to bond with other women to garner a community of support, which can be very beneficial to a depressed person. A major goal of feminist therapy is personal empowerment and helping women to be their best selves.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 11:15:28
I never even thought about depression being more gene based and biological, but I feel like it makes sense. I believe that no doubt our social influences can definitely have an effect on depression levels, but I also feel that people can be born with a gene that is linked to depression.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 12:16:10
Chapter 15’s discussion on mental health disorders and substance abuse rather interesting. According to statistics, women are at a lower risk of developing addiction to men. This wasn’t the interesting part of the reading to me. The actually interesting part fo this reading lies in the numbers themselves. Women are at least 9% less likely to develop addiction to substances like alcohol when compared to men. Men on the other hand tend to be more prone to alcohol abuse because of their ability to withstand more alcohol consumption. The statistics between both men and women were 5%(females) and 14% (males). It was also rather interesting how women show an increase in their chances of inheriting diseases like cancer due to the over-consumption of abusive substances such as alcohol. Alcohol aslo has a direct correlation to depression considering that it is a barbiturate. I actually dont believe that women should be treated any differently in terms of therapy for the simple fact that the brain works in the same in a women that it would in a man. Psychotherapy should be approached equally across the board with no disparity between men and women.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 20:02:21
In chapter 15 it discussed health disorders and I have to say I was not surprised at most of the disorders that woman suffer from over men. Eating disorders and depression are becoming very prominent in todays society. Many girls suffer from these disorders because of the constant stress of image and being skinny. It is sad because it has become such a common thing among girls. I also dont find it surprising about men being more at risk for addiction because I personally feel like men have more access to drugs and have more of a social pressure to do drugs then girls do.
I also dont believe that woman should be treated differently then a man. We are all wired the same way biologically so why should woman be treated any different? Just because we tend to show more signs of emotions doesnt mean we should be treated differently. The psychoanalysis approach simply degrades woman and opresses them more then they already were causing their symptoms to be even worse then before therapy.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 23:52:59
Chapter 15 talked about various types of mental health disorders such as alcoholism, eating disorders, and depression all of which tend to be more common in women than men. One mental health disorder that goes against this stereotype is alcoholism. Alcoholism is stereotypically more common in men, the ratio between men and women having drinking problems is 3:1. I think this is because men tend to turn to alcohol as a way of coping more than women do. Also, men don’t suffer as many health side affects by drinking alcohol than women do. One thing that really stood out to me in the chapter was the connection between ethnicity and alcohol abuse. I never knew that certain ethnicities couldn’t handle alcohol as well as others and that this greatly affects the rate of alcoholism in countries.
Women who suffer mental health problems should definitely take advantage of therapy if they’re willing to reach out for help. Most of the therapy techniques mentioned in the chapter focuses on women’s strengths, such as feminist theory. I think focusing on empowering women is the best way to go about therapy when they are suffering from a mental health problem, it helps them to improve on their selves as a whole and give them the confidence to get better.
Nov 04, 2012 @ 23:45:30
What I found most interesting in Chapter 15 is the statistics on Gender and Alcohol abuse. The ratio of males to female is 3:1. I was not surprised that men tend to abuse alcohol more than women do. I feel that men have a harder time expressing their feelings and are more inclined to take their problems out on alcohol. I also find that is it more socially acceptable for men to be casually drinking. When men get together majority of the time, alcohol will be involved. Also women are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol helping them avoid drinking problems by being more cautious to moderate their use. Women also have more social pressure when it comes to being a heavy drinking and regulate their drinking to avoid disapproval where men experience social pressure to drink.