Is men's mental health better than women's?
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on Apr 22, 2009
The Daily Mail recently discussed the notorious issue of whether men's mental health was better than women's. I say ‘notorious' because ever since the beginning of time men have claimed ‘superior' mental skills. After all, if their brains are bigger and better, as they claim, then their mental state is bound to be healthier too, isn't it?
Let's divide the issue up into Brain, Sleep, Depression and Stress.
Brain
It is indeed true that men's brains are larger than women's. However, women's brains, though smaller, are more tightly packed with cells in the area that controls mental processes such as judgement, personality and memory.
Additionally, there is a significant difference in brain functioning. Men's brains are divided into two distinct halves, making it easier to concentrate but more difficult to cross-fertilise their ideas. On the other hand, each half of a woman's brain has been proven to facilitate the cross-generation of ideas - from all areas of the brain.
Could these mental processes have evolved due to the early need for men to concentrate on hunting, whilst women needed to stay at home, rocking the baby, stirring the broth and tending to the other children all at the same time?
Despite our conjecture on the original reasons for these gender differences, as women get older, they appear to shed brain cells more rapidly from the area that controls those very mental processes such as judgement, personality and memory.
By the age of 70 - 80, women's brain density drops to that of men. Could this be why women are ten times more likely to develop psychiatric conditions such as panic attacks and anxiety disorders related to these specific mental processes?
Alzheimer's Society research shows that for those over 65, twice as many women than men have dementia. A variant in a gene on the X chromosome - the female gender chromosome which determines our gender - is associated with this increased risk.
Conversely, men generally suffer from the mental illness Schizophrenia more severely than women.
Sleep
Women are twenty per cent more likely to suffer insomnia than men. The causes include their tendency to be more emotional (cross-referencing across all areas of life), to worry more, coupled with such physiological stages as menstruation, pregnancy and menopause - which all disturb sleep.
Depression and stress
Women are three times more likely to suffer from depression, partly because women's brains make less of the ‘feel good' hormone serotonin. The menopause and childbirth can also trigger depression. Time to reach for the ‘feel good' chocolate factor, girls!
Conclusion
Before all male readers of this blog start to say ‘I told you so', here are a few more salutary facts. Men in Britain can expect to live only until 79, while for women it's 82. Women are born with a more powerful immune system that protects well into old age. They produce more infection-fighting white blood cells than men of the same age, and women live longer because they have stronger hearts.
From this tiny, selective, survey it certainly seems as if men's mental health is better than women's. But, women have far more flexible brain power and live longer!
