Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY512) VU

Lesson 42
GENDER AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Gender and Psychopathology
Psychopathology refers to mental disorders, or mental illness. Stereotypically speaking, certain
mental disorders are specific to, or more common in, women and certain others are found only in
men.
Some of such traditionally held beliefs are:
_ Hysteria, dissociative disorders, is specific to women, especially young girls
_ Mostly women are anxiety ridden and suffer from anxiety disorders, and very few men
have anxiety
_ Women are scared of insects, animals, or people and usually are phobic
_ Men are brave, scared of nothing and do not develop phobias
_ Depression in women is not something to be taken too seriously, since women have a natural
disposition for feeling sad, and they recover with the passage of time
_ Habit disorders, smoking, drug abuse, or alcoholism are men’s problems

These and many other wrong perceptions are not only held by the members of most societies, but
are also promoted, strengthened, and passed on to the younger generation. Most modern research
suggests that there are no significant differences in mental illness, except a few. There are only
two or three categories of mental illness where women are in higher proportions, and vice versa.
The differences that have been found in clinically diagnosed cases are not consistent. The rates of
only two illnesses have been found higher in women:
a) Mood disorders
b) Anxiety disorders (Cockerham, 1996; Kessler et al., 1994).

Men have higher rates of personality disorders (Cockerham, 1996; Kessler et al., 1994). Research
has further shown that females are also higher in case of tendencies toward such depression and
anxiety that, although not clinically diagnosable, make people feel psychologically distressed;
This fact stands true for the U.S as well as other countries of the globe (Cockerham, 1996;
Desjarlais et al., 1993; Lai, 1995).

In our discussion on the present topic, we will be focusing upon two things:
1. The gender bias in the diagnostic criteria, and
2. The facts about existing gender differences in psychological disorders

The Diagnostic Criteria

Diagnostic criteria refer to the standards laid down and used by psychiatrists and psychologists
for categorizing and labeling people as mental patients, or as suffering from a mental illness.
These criteria not only decide whether or not a person is mentally ill, but also specify the type of
disorder. A number of psychologists are of the opinion that there are inherent biases in the
diagnosing and identifying procedures. These have been designed in a manner that the likelihood
of women being diagnosed as mentally ill is higher. The most commonly used criteria,
worldwide, is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM. The DSM,
developed by the American Psychiatric Association, is the most widely used criteria. The first
version came in 1952, the second edition in 1968, followed by the third edition in 1980, and the
slightly revised edition of the same in 1987. In 1994, DSM-IV was developed, that was not much
different from the previous version. A text revision of the DSM-IV appeared in year 2000. In the
2000 revision, the diagnostic categories remained unchanged; however the text descriptions were
enlarged. The DSM covers more than 240 different diagnoses. It also includes descriptions of

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Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY512) VU

symptoms characteristics of the disorders. It has a multi-axial system, and contains five axes or
dimensions for diagnosis. The first three axes cover the

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