“Women’s experiences of anxiety and depression were a recurring theme in the conversation groups” from ‘Out of Silence – Women’s mental health in their own words’ project by the NWCI – National Women’s Council of Ireland.
The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) is the leading national women’s membership organisation in Ireland. NWCI is working towards a future in which women and men are treated equally.
Here’s an excerpt from their recent report:
“Women’s experiences of anxiety and depression were a recurring theme in the conversation groups. Women are affected by depression at twice the rate of men, and women are more likely to experience anxiety. Participants felt that a large percentage of women were experiencing depression, anxiety and panic attacks.
“Women are suffering anxiety in very high rates – see the amount of women with panic attacks. I think it comes from being everything to everyone” (woman participant, women’s community group 1).
Women also felt their symptoms were often dismissed, not taken seriously, or mistreated. These experiences reflect research which shows that women and men seek and receive treatment for mental health difficulties in different ways – women are less likely to receive specialist care and twice as likely to be prescribed psychotropic drugs. Women believed that there was an over-reliance on prescribing medication and lack of access to counselling and talking therapies.
See: https://www.nwci.ie
