HI

[angels fan]

I was wondering if men don't understand mentail illness. Because men do have it also. I don't judge men who have it because it is wrong.

Can't let this drop off without a reply.

I was prompted to look up some statistics because intuitively I'd have thought the same amount.

It does seem that women have more "mental illnesses" than men. But there's a problem with how mental illness is defined: the suicide figures are very different. In 2013, 78% of suicides were male and just 22% were women. That could mean that men suffer mental illnesses undetected before they destroy themselves.

However, the question is what is a mental illness? There's a catalogue of disorders - the DSM - that seems to get updated frequently and psychologists are inventing new disorders by the day.

Another issue is how big does the problem need to be before the person is diagnosed with a disorder? Like - deeply depressive people who need SSRI anti-depressant drugs are said to have a mental disorder; but does a small depression count when you feel low for a couple of days. Does a bad mood because of something stressful count as a mental disorder.

Because things aren't so clear-cut, researchers are dissatisfied with the traditional terms "mental disorder and mental illness" and are looking for something more appropriate.

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[SaturninePluto]

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

Can't let this drop off without a reply.

I was prompted to look up some statistics because intuitively I'd have thought the same amount.

It does seem that women have more "mental illnesses" than men. But there's a problem with how mental illness is defined: the suicide figures are very different. In 2013, 78% of suicides were male and just 22% were women. That could mean that men suffer mental illnesses undetected before they destroy themselves.

However, the question is what is a mental illness? There's a catalogue of disorders - the DSM - that seems to get updated frequently and psychologists are inventing new disorders by the day.

Another issue is how big does the problem need to be before the person is diagnosed with a disorder? Like - deeply depressive people who need SSRI anti-depressant drugs are said to have a mental disorder; but does a small depression count when you feel low for a couple of days. Does a bad mood because of something stressful count as a mental disorder.

Because things aren't so clear-cut, researchers are dissatisfied with the traditional terms "mental disorder and mental illness" and are looking for something more appropriate.

♥♦♣♠

Interesting about the statistics you went and looked for (thank you btw) and the indication that women are statistically shown to have a higher mental illness rate than men, but men are more likely to actually commit the act of taking their own life.

I have a question I feel may indeed need to be a future consideration statistically, my question is did any of those statistics tell of which types of illness the statistics were in regard to, or was it a blanket statement type statistic, showing only mental illness (a very general term especially given statistics). Essentially I am wondering of such mental illnesses as anti-social personality disorder, or narcissistic personality disorder- these two disorders have been cited frequently under the stipulation, they are mainly suffered by men. Females are less frequent with these two disorders or so we are led to think.

I am merely wondering where statistics stand on these two disorders individually.

As I have been led to believe they are more so the realm of men suffering these or diagnosed.

Keep in mind, men in general are possibly less prone to admit to or seek help for illness, both mental and physical.

This is clearly evident by the high level of suicides in relation to mental illness committed by men.

I find these statistics are possibly not covering the entire spectrum of either disorder or truth perhaps even.

Despite anti-social personality disorder as well as narcissistic personality disorder being male populated disorders (or more males diagnosed perhaps) is it quite possible these two disorders are not suffered as frequently as others, or perhaps many go un diagnosed?

Hey there SaturninePluto, good morning.

I'd just looked up some general statistics (fired up by angels fan's post). However the site has a few analyses for the UK if you're interested.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics

I noticed in one of the links the term "met the criteria for diagnosis" which does come with a bit of subjectivity. I mean, at what point does a mild depression suddenly click into "Depressed" for diagnosis purposes. How much obsession does it take to trigger an addiction diagnosis?

The other question concerns detecting mental illness. Such a huge proportion of men committing suicide suggests underlying problems aren't detected. Some perhaps are spur of the moment bids - the stereotyped financier's deal going bad so he hangs himself off Tower Bridge and stuff. But it could be men's inability to display their emotions; to refuse consulting a doctor (usual I understand) that allows their plight to go undetected.

No doubt these questions hang over the psychiatric profession as well as the statistics and there doesn't seem to be an easy answer. Most psychology tends to compare people against societal norms.....and since society seems to be crumbling so will those norms. Going to be interesting times ahead!

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