Gender and Mental Health

It has been consistently observed and found in research that there are marked gender differences in the prevalence of many mental disorders. The paper will examine the most common mental health issues and their differential prevalence among men and women. The paper will also throw light on the various psychological models of gender development which might help in understanding the possible reasons of differential rate of  different disorders among women and men. The paper will focus more on the psychosocial origin of gender differences in various mental health issues. It has implications to bring changes in socialization patterns, parenting practices, coping styles, reinforcement contingencies, shedding negative stereotypes to decrease the prevalence of some gender specific disorders.