Mental Health, Gender and Structural Violence

Abstract

Anxiety disorders and depression are common diagnoses in the Western world. Authors define them as common mental disorders, and researches have indicated a high correlation between their appearance and socioeconomic conditions, such as gender, poverty and low education level, amongst others. This paper analyzed the symptoms and diagnoses found in medical records of male and female patients from two large psychiatric hospitals in the Federal District of Brazil. We examined 72 male records and 165 female records. The frequency of the symptoms was registered, as well as the diagnoses. It was observed that 27.5% of male and 59.6% of female diagnoses may be considered as common mental disorders. Furthermore, the biometric profile shows the prevalence of maidservant,poor,  black  women  as  the  main  users  of  such services.  This paper questions if  such  diagnoses  point  clinical conditions or a medicalization of social issues has occurred.