Suicide/Depression/Anxiety/Self-Esteem

Increasing scientific evidence suggests that prolonged psychological stress takes its toll on the body, but the exact mechanisms by which stress influences disease processes have remained elusive. Now, scientists report that psychological stress may exact its toll, at least in part, by affecting molecules believed to play a key role in cellular aging and, possibly, disease development.

(http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=17037)

43 million women take antidepressant medications (Zestra Web site)

73% of all psychiatric medications, including antidepressants, are prescribed to females (American Psychological Association)

1 in 4 girls exhibits depressive symptoms-a rate 50 percent higher than that for boys. Girls who exhibited symptoms of poor mental health also indicated that they often lacked a source of support during times when they felt great stress or depression. (Commonwealth Fund, 1997-conducted by Louis Harris and Associates)

Adolescent girls report alarmingly high rates of thinking about suicide. Among high school girls, 1 in 3 had thought about suicide in the past two weeks and another 3% responded positively to the statement, ”I want to kill myself." (Commonwealth Fund, 1997-conducted by Louis Harris and Associates)

Women are more likely than men to have an anxiety disorder. Approximately twice as many women as men suffer from panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder. (Robins LN, Regier DA, eds. Psychiatric disorders in America: the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. New York: The Free Press, 1991.)

The authors of the Dutch study wrote in the November 2004 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry: “We found that the trait of optimism was an important long-term determinant of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in elderly subjects independent of sociodemographic characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors.”

(http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/a/003215.html)