In celebration of Women’s Day, I think it is more than crucial to highlight the importance of women’s mental wellbeing.
Women often face unique challenges and pressures that impact their mental health. Women all around the world suffer societal expectations, hormonal fluctuations, violences, lack of freedom in all forms. These can take a severe toll on their emotional and psychological state. Did you know that women are more prone to diseases like cancer and depression? Did you know that 66% of all Alzheimer cases are women? These numbers are worrying and they are anything but improving.
Let’s dive into some of these issues and explore strategies to improve women’s mental wellbeing.
The Challenges Women Face
Gender-specific Stressors
Women often juggle multiple roles, including being a mother, taking care of a loved one, trying to have a successful career, and managing household responsibilities. All of that in parallel to taking care of their body. This leads to heightened stress levels. Additionally, societal norms and gender stereotypes can contribute to feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.
Hormonal Changes
Hormonal fluctuations during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause can significantly affect women’s mood and overall mental health.
These changes may lead to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and mood swings. In the long-run they can lead to increased risk of Dementia or Parkinson.
Societal Expectations
Women are frequently expected to conform to certain standards of beauty, success, and behaviour. A little girl should be cute, calm and aspire to being soft. Later on in life a young woman should be pretty, sensual and “feminine” doing sports like danse, gymnastic or art. Then a woman is expected to be a good wife, a nurturing mother, have a successful but not too successful career, prioritize family, and stay young or appear young for ever.
Some alerting facts :
In cinema, only 23% of main characters are played by women and of that more than 50% are under 30.
Because youth and beauty are the main criteria looked at by society in valuing a woman, every year at least 12 million of girls are married before 18. That’s one in every five girls around the world. Overall ~650million women on earth today were married before 18.
More and more women are doing plastic surgery. Getting Botox is now very common. In 2023, on ~10 million of Botox patient; 86% are women worldwide (94% are women in the US) and only 60% are over 40.
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression.
45% to 55%. of women have experienced sexual harassment since the age of 15 in the European Union.
One last one to raise awareness on women’s inclusion in the workplace; global statistics reveal that women hold only 29% of senior management roles and just 5% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies.
It is difficult to change the world (and these shocking statistics) in one day but step by step with small actions we can help women improve their wellbeing and thrive as a true equal to the other gender.
Tips for Improving Women’s Mental Wellbeing
Prioritize Self-Care
As a woman, carve out time for self-care activities that promote relaxation and stress relief, such as meditation, yoga, prayer, taking care of your physical health and appearance. Ensure to do more of what you love and less of what you don’t. As a man, be an ally and help women take the time to do these and indulging in hobbies they enjoy. Remember that women need more sleep than men so make sure to prioritize yourself.
Seek Support
Women should feel empowered to seek support from friends, family, or mental health professionals when needed. Building a strong support network can provide invaluable emotional support during challenging times. Getting a wellness coach or life coach can help thrive and get unstuck.
Challenge Gender Norms
Challenge societal expectations and redefine success on your own terms. What makes you happy is what you should seek. Not what society expects you to be. Embrace individuality and authenticity can help foster a sense of empowerment and confidence. On the other side, do not judge a women based on your life choice. Nobody judge a man for not having started a family at 40 so why judge a woman? If a man wants to be an astronaut, his loved ones will be supportive. Be supportive if your daughter wants to be a football player, an astronaut or a plumber. There is no such roles made for man and jobs made for women. The intellectual equality is key to change the world.
Practice Mindfulness
Practice mindfulness techniques to cultivate self-awareness and manage stress more effectively. You can do some simple practices like deep breathing exercises or journaling. All mindfulness exercises whereas they are complex or simple and short can help promote mental clarity and emotional resilience.
Address Hormonal and Physical Health
Make sure to prioritize your hormonal health by maintaining a balanced diet, regular exercise routine, and seeking medical support if experiencing significant hormonal imbalances or symptoms.
Women’s health is complex to maintain so ensure to put it as a top priority. Encourage all the women around you to do regular blood checks as women are more prone to anaemia and vitamin D deficiency. Understanding women’s cycle is very important to live in harmony as a family or friends. If you are not a woman, be patient, encourage rest and do not judge your friend/colleague/family member because she goes from tired to full of energy. There is a reason; hormonal cycle.
On this Women’s Day, let’s commit to prioritizing women’s mental wellbeing and creating a supportive environment where every woman feels valued, empowered, and capable of achieving optimal mental health.