A recent study executed by scientists at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge’s Strangeways Research Laboratory revealed that it is possible that women are more vulnerable to anxiety. The study was published in the journal Brain and Behavior this June.

The investigation evaluated about 1,200 studies about anxiety but focused on 48, and found that considering the overall number of people with anxiety, the amount of women suffering stress won over men with about twice the odds of experiencing anxiety disorders.

In the period that involves 1990 – 2010, the study recovered data enough to make a statistic on the topic. Four out of every 100 citizens has some anxiety disorders, and about 10 percent of adults under 35 years old at some point in their lives suffered anxiety.

Women under 35 years old and people with health conditions are also particularly vulnerable to experience anxiety.
Women under 35 years old and people with health conditions are also particularly vulnerable to experience anxiety. Image Credit: Indian Express

What is the reason behind the statistics? 

Researchers have not yet found a clear explanation on why could women be more vulnerable or exposed to suffer anxiety disorders. So far, it seems that the chemical compound in the brain and biological differences in the brain and the immune system may play a role on this issue. Hormones can also be involved in the process of making a subject prone to anxiety.

Olivia Remes, the leader of the investigation, said that anxiety is necessary and should not be overlooked She stated about the different methods existing to help the mental health, although technology and advances in science and medicine will create better solutions instead of the traditional psychological treatment.

Statistically, there is also a significant trend: Most people suffering anxiety comes from North America and Western Europe. While in Asia about 3 or less out of 100 experience anxiety, in North America the index goes up to 8 out of 100.

Mental health: Women vs. Men

Other mental health problems are affecting more women than men. Depression, for example, is one of the most common diagnosis of women that just started therapy. But there is an additional feature, and that is the communication of the symptoms.

Women can feel depressive, but they will find the way to share the issue with someone else or at least to make it visible, what can create the appropriate network of support. On the other hand, men are considerably more jealous with the information of their emotional state, not sharing their emotions and are less likely to go to therapy or receive professional aid.  When women show their internal issues, tend to be depressive while men take a more aggressive attitude.

The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation in New York stated through its CEO, Jeffrey Borenstein, that these results among others, can be culturally sensitive. This, because of the judgment weight the public can put on the findings of the research.

Even though this is not the first research where the findings conclude that women are more vulnerable to suffer depression or anxiety, a study executed in Spain discovered that men are more likely to suffer psychopathic alterations in comparison to women, so in this matter, men are most vulnerable to behavioral issues.

People who suffer from anxiety can sometimes be easily identified if noticed on time. Bitting one's fingernails, tapping their feet consistently or any nervous tick is a giveaway for anxiety issues. Image Credit: Net Doctor
People who suffer from anxiety can sometimes be easily identified if noticed on time. Bitting one’s fingernails, tapping their feet consistently or any nervous tick is a giveaway for anxiety issues. Image Credit: Net Doctor

Types of Anxiety 

Anxiety can be a human response mostly to fear, and it can put the person suffering in a very complex and fragile emotional state. Anxiety disorders can break the subject’s stability and affect both psychological as biological aspects of their bodies. In the study, researchers reported that concern can be expressed differently, depending on the culture that surrounds the subject.

“For example, social anxiety in the West — people are worried that people are always looking at them, being critical — they are extremely self-conscious, whereas people in Asian cultures are afraid of causing others offense.” Olivia Remes stated.

The ideological structure of women can play a role in this vulnerability to anxiety.

There is, however, a lot of anxiety and anxiety disorders we do not know yet. Stress can interfere with people’s lives in hazardous ways. Scientists stated that there was still a lot of research to be done.

Source: WebMD