How is Anxiety Affected by Gender?

How Is Anxiety Affected by Gender?
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How Is Anxiety Affected by Gender?
Although some people tend to find it easy to get through life’s social sphere, there are those that struggle with feelings of worry, fear, and uncertainty. Usually, the attitudes of people with anxiety tend to change as their circumstances change. However, for some, the cloud of anxiety still looms heavy. Worldwide, approximately 264 million people suffer from anxiety (Kuehner, 2017). Women are more likely to show symptoms of anxiety than men. Among individuals with anxiety, the experience and response differ. However, the medical community does not fully understand why anxiety occurs at different rates and why it affects men and women differently. In this paper, the author explores various anxiety disorders to show how they differ with gender.
Anxiety can be best explained through neurobiology. Physiologically, men and women are very similar. The only difference lies in the time and pace at which they produce and secrete certain hormones (Marques et al., 2016). Both males and females remain undifferentiated until the sixth week in the gestation period. This is the period when males begin producing androgens. In females, the process of sexual differentiation occurs from the twelfth week when there is a substantial increase in follicle stimulating hormones (FSH). After the twentieth week, sexual differentiation stops. The hormonal environment in the brain of males and females remains similar until puberty (Marques et al., 2016).
Estrogen is crucial for the healthy functioning of the brain (Marques et al., 2016). Its exhaustion contributes greatly to pathological anxiety. Rat models have been used to show how reduced estrogen levels affect the brain. In these models, scientists have found that reduced estrogen levels lead to increased anxiety. Hormonal differences have also been found to play a role in stress. For instance, females often show high hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis markers when stressed or resting. Despite the important role hormones play in sexual dimorphism, genetic factors tend to trigger differences in behavior (Marques et al., 2016). The environment also has an impact on behavior.
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) helps to show how anxiety differs in males and females from their birth (Marques et al., 2016). AHN is a process involving the continuous formation of neurons in one’s brain. AHN influences mental health behaviors including anxiety. The hippocampus is a region of the brain that responds strongly to stressful situations. Neurogenesis, on the other hand, has been associated with the development of pathological anxiety (Marques et al., 2016).
Chronic stress reduces hippocampal neurogenesis. This inhibits the main function of the hippocampus, which is to temper stress (Marques et al., 2016). Differences in males and females in terms of AHN result from the physiology of women that allows them to get pregnant or lactate. This unique female physiology makes women undergo hormonal changes throughout their lives. Also, it is important to note that the hormonal fluctuations women experience during their ...