It is now finally recognized that sex bias does indeed exist in the supposedly objective and clinical world of psychiatry and psychology. Predictably, blogs and articles written by psychiatric practitioners and non-practitioners alike regarding emotional and mental illnesses are also rife with sex bias. Since each person who practices and/or writes is actually just a human being, and not some kind of A.I. machine or a god, (although some would like to believe they are), each person's own biases filter down through their perceptions, whether they like it or not. Total denial of one's own bias usually means the bias is so strong that it has been buried by the ego, in order to protect it as if it were a survival tool.
RED FLAG: When you read a description of a diagnosis or disorder, one gender is mentioned as "more likely" to have it than the other. An objective description may warn of one sex being diagnosed more often with the particular disorder in the field, but would not agree that the gender disparity is correct.
Therefore YOU and I, as the reader of said blogs and articles, and also as a potential or current patient or loved one of a patient, has a crucial responsibility to ourselves and those around us to keep this fact in mind when we seek information about mental illness, emotional difficulties, trauma, addiction, and personality disorders.
A few of the most heavily skewed biases can be seen frequently in a few "disorders" that have become popular to blog about: "Borderline Personality Disorder", "Narcissistic Personality Disorder", "Conduct Disorder", "Codependency", and "Asperger's Syndrome". Each of these diagnoses has its own sex bias, meaning psychology workers often jump to one of them based on the patient's gender. This has been going on for so long that there are many who actually believe they are being scientific when they do this.
Respectively, the gender biases associated with these labels go like this:
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): Female
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD): Male
Conduct Disorder: Male
Codependency: Female
Asperger's Syndrome: Male
A female displaying the same set of symptoms as a male patient will often be diagnosed with BPD, while the male may be diagnosed with NPD, Conduct Disorder, "Anger management issues", or perhaps just "having communication issues".
A male displaying Codependency can be seen as being "pussy whipped", yes, even by a so-called "professional". When grades don't matter anymore, and when there are no consequences for misdiagnoses (except on the head of the patient and their family), and there is no one in the room judging the judgment of the clinician or the writer, one's base prejudices, resentments, and issues from childhood and life can trickle over one's perception. Of course, there is also the matter of HOW does a patient know at all whether the individual treating or counseling them has ever been objectively or scientifically minded in their lives? Ever? To pass tests and graduate with a degree, one is not required to have a single objective bone in their body. Nor is it a requirement for writing or blogging.
It is quite disturbing to think of "qualified psychiatric professionals" diagnosing and treating human beings with the slanted perception of sex bias, but remember, they are all just people, too. Medical doctors have been treating men and women completely differently since the dawn of time, only recently has the damage their biases have caused been addressed. Schools and colleges are filled with "education professionals" who are allowed to get away with all kinds of biases toward their students, making the job of objective and truly dedicated educators much more difficult. When is the last time you took your car to an auto repair shop staffed by only one gender in the garage, called a cleaning service staffed by only one gender, called a home repair or remodeling company with only one sex as employees, or watched a sports event where the team was one gender, and the cheerleading squad the other? (Probably very recently). Psychology professors, students, and practitioners, and writers are not some other species of human than the rest; they have just as many internal biases, and sometimes more, if they aren't self-aware.
Test it yourself; just go on an internet search and read all you can on Borderline Personality Disorder~ take note of how many articles assume the patient in question is female.
Search "Narcissism" or "NPD", note how many posts and articles assume that the NPD person is either a Male Partner/Husband, OR a Narcissistic Mother. Note the lack of material on NPD Female Partners/Wives, and NPD Fathers.
Sex bias in psychology and writings about psychology obviously causes all kind of problems and damage in the lives of patients, and the lives of those around them. Imagine learning all you can about Bipolar Disorder because your daughter was diagnosed with it, only to realize years and heavy medications later that she had Asperger's all along.
RED FLAG: When you read a description of a diagnosis or disorder, one gender is mentioned as "more likely" to have it than the other. An objective description may warn of one sex being diagnosed more often with the particular disorder in the field, but would not agree that the gender disparity is correct.
Therefore YOU and I, as the reader of said blogs and articles, and also as a potential or current patient or loved one of a patient, has a crucial responsibility to ourselves and those around us to keep this fact in mind when we seek information about mental illness, emotional difficulties, trauma, addiction, and personality disorders.
A few of the most heavily skewed biases can be seen frequently in a few "disorders" that have become popular to blog about: "Borderline Personality Disorder", "Narcissistic Personality Disorder", "Conduct Disorder", "Codependency", and "Asperger's Syndrome". Each of these diagnoses has its own sex bias, meaning psychology workers often jump to one of them based on the patient's gender. This has been going on for so long that there are many who actually believe they are being scientific when they do this.
Respectively, the gender biases associated with these labels go like this:
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): Female
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD): Male
Conduct Disorder: Male
Codependency: Female
Asperger's Syndrome: Male
A female displaying the same set of symptoms as a male patient will often be diagnosed with BPD, while the male may be diagnosed with NPD, Conduct Disorder, "Anger management issues", or perhaps just "having communication issues".
A male displaying Codependency can be seen as being "pussy whipped", yes, even by a so-called "professional". When grades don't matter anymore, and when there are no consequences for misdiagnoses (except on the head of the patient and their family), and there is no one in the room judging the judgment of the clinician or the writer, one's base prejudices, resentments, and issues from childhood and life can trickle over one's perception. Of course, there is also the matter of HOW does a patient know at all whether the individual treating or counseling them has ever been objectively or scientifically minded in their lives? Ever? To pass tests and graduate with a degree, one is not required to have a single objective bone in their body. Nor is it a requirement for writing or blogging.
It is quite disturbing to think of "qualified psychiatric professionals" diagnosing and treating human beings with the slanted perception of sex bias, but remember, they are all just people, too. Medical doctors have been treating men and women completely differently since the dawn of time, only recently has the damage their biases have caused been addressed. Schools and colleges are filled with "education professionals" who are allowed to get away with all kinds of biases toward their students, making the job of objective and truly dedicated educators much more difficult. When is the last time you took your car to an auto repair shop staffed by only one gender in the garage, called a cleaning service staffed by only one gender, called a home repair or remodeling company with only one sex as employees, or watched a sports event where the team was one gender, and the cheerleading squad the other? (Probably very recently). Psychology professors, students, and practitioners, and writers are not some other species of human than the rest; they have just as many internal biases, and sometimes more, if they aren't self-aware.
Test it yourself; just go on an internet search and read all you can on Borderline Personality Disorder~ take note of how many articles assume the patient in question is female.
Search "Narcissism" or "NPD", note how many posts and articles assume that the NPD person is either a Male Partner/Husband, OR a Narcissistic Mother. Note the lack of material on NPD Female Partners/Wives, and NPD Fathers.
Sex bias in psychology and writings about psychology obviously causes all kind of problems and damage in the lives of patients, and the lives of those around them. Imagine learning all you can about Bipolar Disorder because your daughter was diagnosed with it, only to realize years and heavy medications later that she had Asperger's all along.
