Levels of stress, anxiety, worry, sadness and anger among women around the world have reached a 10-year high, according to a new report.
In one of the largest studies of women’s well-being, the research firm Gallup and the medical technology company Hologic, Inc. teamed up to survey over 66,000 women in 122 countries around the world.
The study authors found that 43% of respondents reported experiencing worry in 2021, 41% reported feeling stressed, 32% reported feeling sad and 26% reported feeling angry.
Compared to 2020, worry, stress and anger among women increased by 3%, while sadness increased by 6%, which are all-time highs since Gallup’s global poll began an emotional health follow-up a decade ago.
“The lack of progress and, in some cases, pushback warrants an even stronger call for world leaders to do more for women, whose well-being underpins the health of families, communities, societies and economies,” said the Hologic president. and CEO Steve MacMillan.
The study authors also found that the gender gap in emotional health between men and women had widened over the past year, with 39% of men reporting feeling worried, 39% of stress, 26% sadness and 21% anger.
Mental health experts say the report shows how women have disproportionately borne the emotional burden of the pandemic, as many families faced job insecurity, unstable housing and disruptions to medical and health services. child care
“A lot of this has to do with traditional roles in terms of care and responsibility for making sure children are fed and treated for illness, even in high-resource countries,” said Dr Elizabeth Fitelson, director of the women’s program at Columbia. University Department of Psychiatry. “Many of these burdens still fall disproportionately on women, in addition to needing to work and hold multiple roles.”
The pandemic saw both men and women leave their jobs in droves, but studies show that men returned to the workforce faster.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that women are still down by a net 100,000 jobs since February 2020, while men have gained 132,000 jobs in July 2022, according to an analysis by the National Women’s Law Center, a non-profit organization that defends women’s rights.
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A 2021 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation also found that many women quit their jobs or took unpaid sick leave citing school or daycare closings.
Health experts say women are also disproportionately affected by rising rates of domestic violence, with the American Journal of Emergency Medicine finding that cases have increased by 25% to 33% worldwide.
“All of these things come together,” said Dr. Sofia Noori, co-founder of the Women’s Mental Health Conference and clinical instructor in the department of psychiatry at Yale University. “If you’re constantly exposed to stressful situations … your nervous system doesn’t get a chance to slow down, so you’re constantly in a state of fight or flight.”
Health experts say that experiencing intense stress over a long period of time without having access to resources to deal with those stressors could lead to toxic or chronic stress.
According to Yale Medicine, studies show that chronic stress has been linked to other psychological and physical conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, depression and anxiety.
Fitelson said the best way to support women’s mental health is to support social safety nets and implement policies that improve access to health care systems, family leave, food security and the housing
“Focusing on improving social supports for basic needs would have a far greater impact than any specific mental health intervention,” he said. But mental health treatment is still needed to manage the aftermath of crises, toxic stress, and trauma.
Although experts say women’s mental health is often unrecognized and understudied, they hope the Gallup-Hologic report will create more awareness.
“Women are the cornerstones of families, societies and economies,” said Dr. Susan Harvey, vice president of global medical affairs at Hologic. “We have to pay attention to this and what it indicates.”
Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.
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