PSYC 367/WmSt 366:  Gender Issues in Psychology

Spring 2004            Virginia Norris, Ph.D.

All dates are subject to change.  Announcements in class supersede internet material.
 
CHAPTER 9
MENTAL & PHYSICAL HEALTH:  STRESS, CHANGE, & ADAPTATIONS

PHYSICAL HEALTH

  • Defining Illness
      • The common assumption is that the differences between women and men are due to hormones.
      • Consequences
        • Medicine tends to define women's normal hormonal fluctuations as forms of disease.
          • Men's hormonal fluctuations are described as normal.
        • Physicians often fail to recognize problems in women that they are quick to see in men.
          • Medicine vacillates between the view that women have more medical problems and need more medical care than men AND
    • the view that women are hypochondriacs whose complaints can be treated with tranquilizers.
      •
  • PHYSICAL ILLNESS IN WOMEN
    • Breast Cancer
    • Congestive Heart Disease
    • Scoliosis
  • PHYSICAL ILLNESS IN MEN
    • The Myth
    • The Truth
    • MEN...in Western, industrialized countries live between seven and eight years less than women.
    • ...are much more likely to die in motor vehicle and work-related accidents than women.
    • ...are three times as likely to commit suicide.
    • ...are five times as likely to die from homicide.
    • ...die from ailments that are widely considered to be preventable.
    • ...are more likely to exhibit problems with alcohol and illicit drug abuse.
    • ...are less likely to consult medical or mental health services for health-related assistance.
      •
      • Causal Explanations
        • Biological Explanations
          • The Y Problem
          • Prenatal Problems
        • Environmental Explanations
      • Psychosocial Explanations
        • The Male Gender Role
      Consequences of the Male Gender Role
       
      • Type A Behavior
        • Poor diet
        • Ignore physical health symptoms
        • Engage in compulsive, smoking, eating, or caffeine consumption
        • Little social support
      • Denial of Feminine Behaviors
        • Male stereotype is defined in terms of "not feminine."
        • "woman=hypochondriac"
      • Alcohol and Drug Abuse
        • Connected to rituals
        • Spiraling pattern of addiction
      • Values Toward Sexuality
        • Ultimate Masculine Rite of Passage
        • Risky Behaviors
      • In Conclusion


    MENTAL HEALTH

    • Women's Mental Health
      • Eating Disorders
        • Anorexia Nervosa
          • Definition
            • Nervous Self-Starvation
          • Diagnostic Symptoms
            • Loss of 20% of body weight
            • Amenorrhoea
            • Thinning hair
            • Dry, flaking skin
            • Constipation
            • Lanugo
            • Lowered body temperature
          • Etc.
          • Who
          • Why
          • How
          • Outcome
            •
        • Bulimia
          • Definition
          • Etc.
        • Theories and Current Thinking
          • Biological Causes
          • Psychoanalytic Theory
          • Learning Theory
          • Current Thinking
            • Factors
              • Predisposing
              • Precipitating
              • Sustaining
      • Obesity
        • "Normal" Desire for Thinness
          • 50% of college men are of normal weight
            • Of these 25% perceive themselves as underweight
            • 25% perceive themselves as overweight
            • Want to GAIN an average of 2.9 pounds
          • 40% of college women are of normal weight
            • 0% perceive themselves as underweight
            • 60% perceive themselves as overweight
            • Want to LOSE an average of 8.4 pounds
          • Slightly Overweight
            • Men want to lose 5.5 pounds
            • Women want to lose 24 pounds
            • Even slightly underweight women want to lose 1.4 pounds
        • Prejudice and Discrimination
          • Children
          • Adult Women
          • Adult Men
        • Health
      • DEPRESSION
        • Rates
          • Depression Scales
  • Clinical Interviews
    •
  • Confounding Variables
  • Stereotypes
  • Alcoholism
    •
  • Possible Causes
  • Social Rejection
  • Gender Roles
  • Marital Roles
  • Role Conflict/Strain
    •
  • Cross-Cultural Studies
  • Developed Countries
  • Undeveloped Countries
    •
  • Are we asking the wrong questions?
  • Depression or DepressionS
  • Variability in Treatment Outcomes
    •
  • Maybe we should be asking
  • Are the symptoms the same for men and women?
  • Are the risk factors the same?
  • Are there differences in depression at different developmental stages?
    •
  • SUICIDE
  • Rates
  • Men complete suicide 2.3 times more often than women
  • Women attempt suicide 2.3 times more often than men
  • If completions and attempts are combined there is no difference in rates
    •
  • Lethality of Method
  • Guns versus Pills
    •
  • Consequences of Locating Suicide in the Male Sphere
  • Leads to wrong recommendations
  • Proscribes how and what is studied
    •
  • MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER
  • Culture-bound Syndrome
  • Spanos, N. P. (1994). Multiple identity enactments and multiple personality disorder: A sociocognitive perspective. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 143-165.
    •
  • Men's Mental Health
  • Stress
  • Immune System Reactions
  • Types of Challenges
    •