Analyzing the Problem: Gender Disparities in Behavioral and Mental Health Care

This chapter offers an overview of how and why gender disparities exist in mental health diagnosis, treatment, and access to care. It addresses gender disparities in behavioral and mental health, explains patterns and prevalence of mental illness and gender-specific mental health outcomes. The chapter examines gender differences in access to mental health treatment and care. It reviews mental health policies and programs to promote gender equity in mental health services. Decreasing the gender disparities would improve mental and physical health outcomes for millions of men and women nationwide. The shift from the uterus to the brain and nervous system as the origin of hysteria and the change in terminology from “hysteria” to “conversion symptoms” seem to represent a shift from an exclusive attribution to women to a broader attribution by gender. Employment plays an important role in determining women’s and men’s relative wealth, power, and prestige. This generates gender inequalities in the distribution of resources, benefits, and responsibilities.