And some gum and a lighter and a knife and a new deck of cards (with girls on the back)
Women, according to countless studies, are twice as prone to anxiety as men. When pollsters call women up, they always confess to far higher levels of worry than men about everything from crime to the economy. Psychologists diagnose women with anxiety disorders two times as often as men, and research confirms—perhaps unsurprisingly—that women are significantly more inclined toward negative emotion, self-criticism, and endless rumination about problems. (…)
In reality, the idea that women are “naturally” twice as anxious as men is nothing more than a pernicious illusion. (…)
A few recent studies have indicated that the hormonal differences between the sexes really do make women a touch more biologically inclined toward anxiety than men. (…) Just how big a role these biological factors play in human women’s anxiety isn’t yet clear.
But one thing we do know for certain is that the way we raise children plays a huge role in determining how disposed toward anxiety they are later in life, and thus the difference in the way we treat boys and girls explains a lot about the heightened nerves we see in many adult women.
artwork { Willem de Kooning, Woman, 1951-52 | Oil and pencil on paperboard }
