Why women are more likely to have a phobia/disorder than men

Phobias are one of the most common disorders. It is estimated that around 4 out of every 100 people develop a phobia in their lifetime. 10 million of these people reside in the UK alone and a large amount of them are women. Is the reason for this external or are women genetically predisposed to have higher chances of this disorder?

Women are far more likely to be both mentally and physically abused than men are throughout their life. Victims of abuse tend to develop disorders such as PTSD, panic attacks and of course phobias. All these were twice as likely for women as opposed to men. Abuse can change the wiring of a victims mind even until years after the abuse took place.

​Around the world, anxiety has taken over approximately 275 million people. 3% of them are male and the other 4.7% per cent are female. These numbers continue to rise every year. Men often feel ashamed to ask for help in moments of great stress so they feel alone, and the stress can evolve into anxiety or social phobia. Undoubtedly there are other stimuli for anxiety, depression and phobia in men, but could their brain chemistry be one of them? In the case of disorders in women, their brain chemistry could very well have a huge role to play.

​Women, unfortunately, experience an abundance of hormone fluctuations only worsened by stress-which they are more prone to than men, and other factors such as contraceptive pills. Higher levels of oestrogen and progesterone heighten the chance of a phobia or even OCD & fear of untidiness. This often affects pregnant women. Similarly, if the hormone levels the thyroid gland (which regulates mood, metabolism & brain development) is producing is too much or too little for the body, it leads to several disorders. Panic attacks, depression and anxiety are expected when this happens, and they can lead to social phobias.

Whether external or internal factors are to blame, there is still a lot of research that needs to be done on phobias. We only know what increases the chances or triggers these disorders, however, curing them is not as hard as it sounds. If you feel like a phobia is interfering with your life in any way, you can book a free phone consultation or learn more by clicking here.

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Statistic Sources:
Our World in data
​NHS Direct Wales