Women's Mental Health In Australia

Health risk increased with unemployment. There is evident that the health risk is higher in areas where unemployment is common. Stable and secure work improves to individual’s job satisfaction, well-being and health. Deteriorate illness and premature death caused by higher unemployment (Wilkinson & Marmot 2003). A number of research form many foreign countries shows individuals and their families face comparatively high risk of premature death (Wilkinson & Marmot 2003). Australia indigenous peoples accounted for 2.4% of the Australian population, the impact of factors such as unemployment, imprisonment, low-income, eligible housing, lead them to life expectancy 9-12 years less than other Australian population(Cunningham & Paradies 2013).

Mental illness disorders and suicide as surveys and statistics would show, affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at a higher rate than the rest of the Australian population (Elder, Evans, Nizette, 2013). Thirty percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 18 years and over experienced some sort psychological distress at a greater than normal level during the year 2012 to 2013 (ABS, 2015). Compared to other Australians, the Indigenous people aged 18 years and over were three times more prone to experiencing psychological distress than the rest of the Australian population (ABS, 2015). Mental health services treat more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in contrast with the Non-Aboriginal population, around

Stigma is a destructive shadow which follows mental health, inevitably impacting on the process of recovery. In Australia, statistics show that one in five individuals experience mental illness, of those 74% (SANE Australia,2013) reported being affected by stigma. With such statistics, it is crucial to understand the recovery process in mental health and the extent to which stigma influences on this process.

Is there a common attitude society has towards women, and their roles as mothers? Betty Rollin, American journalist, reporter, and author, believes there is. She calls it the motherhood myth. She writes about this subject in her essay, “Motherhood: Who Needs It?” The myth is the idea that all normal women want and need to become mothers (Rollin 286). Rollin believes this is false, and argues that there is no biological drive or instinct, that makes women want to become mothers. Society reinforces this myth into us, through many forms of propaganda. Rollin argues against the belief that women’s most important role in life is to become a wife, and mother. She calls for the freedom to choose, and explains that becoming a mother is not an

The definition of health and illness varies across societies due to their differing cultural, social and ethnic beliefs. The description associated with health and illness has been socially constructed so that the view of a medical profession is the most accurate. There is a general conception to think of health habits such as exercise and consuming a healthy diet when the terms health and illness are mentioned. However it is thought that the conditions that determine health changes are heavily based on one’s social conditions as it is seen that diseases occur in patterns. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) “health is a complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” Social

The modern world is in the midst of reconstructing gender roles; debates about contraception, reproductive freedom, and female inequality are contentious and common. The majority now challenges the long established assertion that women’s bodies are the eminent domain of patriarchal control. In the past, a woman’s inability to control her reproductive choices could come with ruinous consequences. Proponents of patriarchal control argue against reproductive independence with rhetoric from religious texts and with anecdotes of ‘better days,’ when women were subservient. Often, literature about childbearing fails to acknowledge the possibility of women being uninterested in fulfilling the role of motherhood.

THE NO-BABY BOOM, by Anne Kingston, published in March 2014 was about the social infertility rates of twenty-first century women. Kingston uses credible evidence that shows that she wants to promote awareness and change the perception of how society views the topic of infertility. The way Kingston presents the information to the reader is by providing statistics, personal stories, and her personal opinion on the idea of the “childless” mother. Readers this is most likely to appeal to is people who are struggling with infertility. The concern and values throughout this article is the infertility rate of women and the way it affects their life styles. The reason that Kingston published this article is to let people become more aware of the

The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing Results revealed that at some stage in their lives, up to 45% of Australians will experience a mental illness, with 20% of the Australians surveyed in the 16-85 age group having experienced a mental illness within the 12 months preceding the survey

Firstly, I would like to provide a definition of mental health that has advantages when examining women’s mental health. “Mental health is the capacity of the individual, the group and the environment to interact in ways that promote subjective well-being, the optimal development and use of mental abilities (cognitive, affective and relational), the achievement of individual and collective goals consistent with justice and the attainment and preservation of conditions of fundamental equality.” (Astbury, Cabral, 2) This definition has several advantages in relation to women’s mental health including that it goes beyond the biological and the individual, it acknowledges the crucial role of social context and highlights the importance of justice and equality in determining mental

The increased percentage of unwed mothers in America during 1990s is largely due to the females born in 1970’s. They were influenced by their parents, who have been through the World War II. One major influence of World War II on America society is the increase in female status. During the war, many men, who used to be labor in economic, were sent to the battlefield and this lack of labor in America economic was fix by accepting women in factory. Thus, those women born in 70’s believe that they don’t need help from men to raise a baby for the experience of their parents and grand

Current media is an influencing factor of the pressure placed on western women to juggle the “double burdern”. “New media” as describe by writer Susan J. Douglas “is just as culpable as the “Old media” in perpetuating unrealistic cultural expectations about women, mothers and mothering” . The media portrays what J. Douglas refers as the “New Model Mom”, which describes the expectations of working mothers. The “New Model Mom” is athletically slender, always well groomed, smiling, always attentive to their husbands and has a perfectly balanced diet. This unrealistic image of the prefect mother is placing women with the sole responsibility of caring for the child, domestic duties and still being expected to return the workforce with no extra ask

The Australian Government created an innovating National Youth Mental Health Foundation is known as, Headspace. Headspace provides early support, care and services for a range of mental health challenges young people commonly face. Headspace aim to target any problems young people may face in order to adverse effects. They provide services that span over physical health, drug and alcohol support and vocational counsel. They aim to empower young people to seek assistance, support, advice or simply someone to talk about mental health issues. Anyone who walks into a headspace centre should feel treated with respect and compassion, within a confidential and safe environment.

Up until recently, there was an assumption that this was not a choice for women whether to have a family, it was an understanding that we would. For those of us who chose not to, we faced unfair judgment from family, friends, and other women because we violated gender-specific expectations. Even if our reasons were solely economic based on having enough income before having children, the expectations remained unmovable. Despite these unwritten rules, my defiance prevailed as I relied on logic and common sense to decide only to have children when I had the resources to support this investment in a human life. Motherhood was a serious, life-changing, and long-term decision. When women see friends and our own mothers struggling to make ends meet because of the loss of the primary earner through death,

When bearing in mind why a person should remain child-free, one must first consider one of the general themes in the textbook The Psychology of Women, by Margret W. Matlin (2008). In this text, Theme 4 contemplates that “women differ widely from one another” (pg. 30). This variance should cause pause to every women who is deliberating having a child. A woman must determine for herself if she is the type of women who desires to, capable of, and devoted to having a child. This is a life altering decision and should not be participated in nonchalantly. There exist some disadvantages to the sense of giving birth and to raising a child. Subsequently, five urgings will be discussed against the notion of having offspring; over-population, physical reactions, emotional reactions, expense, and a dramatic change of life. All women have a duty to evaluate their personal circumstances prior to conception.

A major issue within New Zealand is the health differences between Maori and non-Maori. The health experience of Maori is significantly different due to lifestyle factors and marginalisation. To achieve the best health outcome for all ethnicities, health services need to treat everyone equally regardless of the individual’s lifestyle factors, Maori women and men have different health experiences due to the sex difference and reproductive factors (Women’s Health Action, 2014). This essay will discuss the development of mental health among Maori women in comparison to non-Maori women and the effects of marginalisation and housing on the health of Maori. This essay will also include a general description of women’s health as a whole. With research I will determine and explain the health disparities between non-Maori and Maori and the underlying factors that cause certain health outcomes.