CAN MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BE GENDER SPECIFIC?

THE National Women’s Council of Ireland lobbies the Irish health system to achieve better outcomes for women’s mental health. Women’s mental health is a concern in all walks of life - not just in business – and the need to promote gender-sensitive mental health services is vital.

The aim of women’s organisations is to campaign for gender proofing mental health services and to gain an understanding of the diversity involved between men and women’s mental health. World Health Organisation (WHO) studies show that depression and anxiety complaints are more predominate among women, with approximately 1 in 3 women in the community likely to have mental health problems Women and men have different health requirements that have different implications for mental health.

For example, women’s health involves having and raising children, often in stressful social environments and where workplace discrimination is a subtle threat to their career goals. This is an underlying threat to women’s mental health.

Women continue to suffer in silence regarding some of the aforementioned situations. In some cases single mothers are left to shoulder the worry, responsibility and anxiety of raising children and this cannot be classified as ‘gender equal’ when it comes to mental health issues. It’s too simplistic to ascribe a one size fits all policy on mental health.

The promotion of a healthy lifestyle, diet and social interaction is what is proscribed to both genders – which to an extent plays a positive part - however there remains a need to give women’s mental health separate status.

INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and it’s a day that belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.

Marked annually on March 8, it’s one of the most important days of the year to raise awareness about equality for women, celebrate women’s achievements, lobby for accelerated gender parity or fundraise for female-focused charities.

The theme of this year’s campaign is #ChooseToChallenge and due to the pandemic, events and celebrations will take place mostly online.

Wherever we are, we can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality and collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.

Whether you get your female inspiration from women in business, musicians, writers, politicians or even your own friends or family, there are many ways that you can get the confidence to achieve from female role models, so let’s start with some tips.

- It is important to look around your environment and identify female role models to whom you can relate in a meaningful way. Think about the ways they inspire you and the steps that they have taken to achieve.

- Identify the challenges and obstacles to your achievement. Challenges to achievements become very real obstacles to moving your life forward. Make a list of all of the obstacles that may be in your way and reach out to the best people to help overcome these obstacles.

- Help each other achieve. For centuries, women have been meaningful role models for other women and played an active role in helping women to achieve or better themselves. In itself, this is a powerful message. There are many ways in which women empower and help other women, for example, teaching them new skills, encouraging them to be self-sufficient and even just by making time for each other.

Show your support for International Women’s Day and take part in the Strike the Choose To Challenge pose and sharing your image on social media using hashtags #ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021 to encourage further people to commit to helping forge an inclusive world.

WOMEN can have many demands when it comes to striking a work/life balance, which is why you need to take action to achieve it. The whole idea of ‘working harder’ has given way to ‘working smarter’ these days. Feeling fatigued and unhappy with work means some changes may be required. One of the ways you can make a change is by changing your hours.

Talk with your employer about possibly frontloading your hours into a particular time of the week. This may allow you to explore the option of not working at certain times that will reduce stress.

You should also remember that even if your employer is not open to the idea of facilitating a work/life balance, you can still achieve this for yourself by taking some simple steps. For example, when you’re ‘off the clock’ think family and free time, not work.

Too frequently we reconnect with work through our phones and emails when we don’t have to. So be sure to make the time that allows you to de-stress and recharge when not working. Also, work out a better home/life balance as this may also be where stress is emanating from. Employers are not necessarily exempt from trying to achieve a better work/life balance for their staff.

In fact, by doing so they will in all likelihood increase productivity, improve mental health in staff, improve self-esteem, improve workplace relations and create an overall better place to work. Remember: working harder is not the same as working smarter.