How often people develop psychological disorders is related to their sociodemographic and socioeconomic groups.
There is a particularly large difference between the sexes. One in three women and almost one in four to five men are affected. Because of this difference, psychological diseases are often referred to as “women’s diseases”. It is also striking how the disorders differ between the sexes. Women suffer about twice as often as men from anxiety disorders and affective disorders. Men, on the other hand, suffer significantly more often from substance abuse disorders. Furthermore, it should be noted that young adults are most often affected by mental illness. Older people are the least likely to fall ill. Furthermore, the frequency of mental illness follows a social gradient. The people who get sick most often are people with low socioeconomic status. Next follow people with medium status. People with high status have the lowest number of mental disorders.
In Germany, mental illnesses are evenly distributed regardless of region. However, there is an increase in the number of illnesses in metropolitan areas.
Gender differences
Epidemiological data show that women suffer from mental disorders more often than men. This difference can be explained by role stereotypes and different utilization of the health care system. Women seek treatment more often than men and are better able to remember symptoms than men, which means that mental illnesses are more likely to be recognized and diagnosed in women. The genders also deal with stressors in different ways. Women are more likely to be anxious and depressed, while men are more likely to be aggressive and prone to addictive behaviors. In addition, women are on average socioeconomically disadvantaged and thus the risk of falling ill is generally increased.
Based on the above findings, three interesting possible target groups emerge for my research question. First, people with low socioeconomic status and young adults, as these groups are the most likely to be affected. Furthermore, due to their social upbringing, men are diagnosed less often than women and are less likely to get the help they need.
