Women's History Month
There are differences between how women and men experience a mental disorder. Did you know that depressive disorders affect two to three times as many women as men? Women with depression are also more likely to develop alcohol problems resulting from their depression.
Expert Opinion
Read what Gail Erlick Robinson M.D., D.Psych.,
Director,
Women's Mental Health Program, University of Toronto
has to say about women’s mental health.
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Did you know?
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1 in 5 women will experience an episode of major depression during her lifetime
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1 in 3 will experience an anxiety disorder
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Anxiety/panic disorder occurs more often in women than men
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85-95 percent of people with anorexia or bulimia are women
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The risk of PTSD following traumatic experiences is two-fold higher in women than men
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Four times as many men as women die by suicide; women attempt suicide 2-3 times more often as men
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Here are two women psychiatrists who influenced and enhanced the field of psychiatry.
Jeanne Spurlock, M.D.
Physician, educator, and writer Dr. Jeanne Spurlock drew inspiration in her career from the challenges she faced in life as an African American woman. As a psychiatrist, she made significant contributions in focusing the medical community's attention on the stresses of poverty, sexism, racism, and discrimination that effect women, minorities, gays, and lesbians. Learn more.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.
Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss-born American psychiatrist, pioneered the concept of providing psychological counseling to the dying. In her first book, On Death and Dying (published in 1969), she described five stages she believed were experienced by those nearing death—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Learn more.
To learn about other prominent women psychiatrists, please visit The National Library of Medicine, Changing the Face of Medicine Exhibition.
Other Resources
National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH)
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Mental Health America (NMHA) |
