Inequality, I bet already have a lot of idea that show up in your brain. Because we all know everyone have experience some inequity. In this world, there some big issues of gender, race or other that are inequality. But we all wordring that how inequality can affect health. I will be talking about what cause inequality in health, and focus on Depression in Women.
Before that, i have some interesting fact that I found from the quiz.
“U.S. life expectancy ranks only 29th in the world. Dozens of countries have surpassed us in the last 60 years.”
“There are stark differences in life expectancy between rich and poor counties in the U.S.”
“African American males in Harlem after age five are less likely to reach age 65 than men in Bangladesh. They are dying not from drugs or violence but from heart disease, stroke and other chronic diseases.”
Continue with it, the rank of African is higher than Japan. I Guess that is the most surprised. Because in my perception, Japanese eat healthy and live healthy. But in other way, they have a lot of mental stress issues in their environment.
“In the U.S. the single strongest predictor of health is one’s position on the class pyramid. On average, those at the top live longer, healthier lives than those in the middle, and those in the middle live longer, healthier lives than those at the bottom.” Before this, there also have another one that. For people who in middle class, they aren’t rice as top class people who can take care their own body by healthy food, and healthy care. But they can eat much than bottom class people, that can cause them to get diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure easily.
“Recent Latino immigrants, though poorer, have better health than the average American, yet within a few years of arrival, their health advantage begins to disappear.” I agree with this one, because I’m also a immigrants from China. I was unhealthy of too thin. But since I moved to Portland for 8 years, I think I gained too much fat.
“American income inequality is greater now than at any time since the 1920s. As the gap between the rich and the rest of us continues to widen, inequities in health also grow.”
Those are the thing i want to share.
From Hausman, we know that he have talk about individual and social group. The writer have gave a example and said that, ” Even though health is both an important component and cause of well-being, if two individuals are unequal in health, it does not follow that they are unequal in well-being. He talked about how A may be healthier than B, but A and B may have different environment issues cause by different friend, also they social issues can affect their mental stress. The food they eat may different. But, they both consistent as health inequality, because there being no fundamental complaint of justice about their comparative situation.
For social groups, the writer said that in Hausman’s view, permit inferences about inequalities in overall well-being. Since that is his argument for defining ‘health inequality’ across social groups, it actually relies on the assumption that individual well-being is the fundamental unit of moral concern. Information about social group health differences will thus often be relevant to conclusions about justice, not because group differences matter and individual differences don’t, but because information about differences in QALYs between well-studied social groups will often license conclusions about the fundamental inequalities that egalitarians care about’ (Hausman 2007, 50).
“We all know that conditions of absolute material deprivation constitute well-recognised risks for ill health and mortality, including inadequate nutrition, lack of clean water and sanitation, and poor housing. A very plausible causal pathway runs from low levels of non-comparative individual income through these material risk factors to lower individual life expectancy.”
Also “One of the most prominent specific risk factors envisaged as the terminus for a psychosocial pathway is (the effects of) stress. As Eric Brunner and Michael Marmot (1999) explain, the long-term effects of stress differ importantly from its short-term effects.”
All of those inequality, do we have solution of it. We do know for healthy that, we have medical insurance. But, then there have another inequality. Not many people who can get a great help by government. Because the first chose to help is the group who are really “needy”. But, they are helping with what they give you. You don’t have any other choses. Every food that can cause you healthy, for people who are low income, they have limit budget to get food. They have limit budget for survivor. They don’t even know how long they still can live. That also cause their mental health. That happen for middle class people, they already have stress by school, work, to get better life. They do have better choices for food, but the limit time and also have to pay for house, car, even insurance. Every stress they have can cause they get depression.
From the research, “Gender have determines the differential power and control men and women have over the socioeconomic determinants of their mental health and lives, their social position, status and treatment in society and their susceptibility and exposure to specific mental health risks.”
“Gender differences occur particularly in the rates of common mental disorders – depression, anxiety and somatic complaints. These disorders, in which women predominate, affect approximately 1 in 3 people in the community and constitute a serious public health problem.”
“Unipolar depression, predicted to be the second leading cause of global disability burden by 2020, is twice as common in women.”
“Depression is not only the most common women’s mental health problem but may be more persistent in women than men. More research is needed.”
“Depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms and high rates of comorbidity are significantly related to interconnected and co-occurrent risk factors such as gender based roles, stressors and negative life experiences and events.”
The fact that “The high prevalence of sexual violence to which women are exposed and the correspondingly high rate of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following such violence, renders women the largest single group of people affected by this disorder.”
Special for woman who are rank and unremitting responsibility for the care of others. That will give themselves more pressure on it.
the another fact that “Economic and social policies that cause sudden, disruptive and severe changes to income, employment and social capital that cannot be controlled or avoided, significantly increase gender inequality and the rate of common mental disorders.”
There will be continue happen for women, the number will continue to rise.
there have many of researches that are showing of psychiatric disorders are largely caused by a combination of stress, environmental, neurobiological, and genetic factors. Inducing for woman, they have been receive some different pressure from different places.
so, the if there can get attention to social factors, especially with regard to inequality, is critical in approaches to mental health; these factors can be improved dramatically through the implementation of appropriate governmental policies and heightened community awareness. Even we know there already have psychological guidance for people who need it, but some of people are feeling uncomfortable, because their own pride and afraid other people to think about them. Special for sensitive people, such as women. Special they are not going to tell anyone who really closes to them. We should let more people learn more about this, maybe people can take the initiative to ask them, how they doing?
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