Sociological Study of the Effects of Gender Roles on Depression via Self Silencing

Today Psychological disorders such as depression are considered to be one of the outcomes of urban life. Depressive disorders were the second leading cause of years lived with disability(YLDs) in 2010. Major depressive disorder (MDD) accounted for 8.2% (5.9%–10.8%) of global YLDs and dysthymia for 1.4% (0.9%–2.0%). Depressive disorders were a leading cause of disability adjusted life years(DALYs) even though no mortality was attributed to them as the underlying cause. MDD accounted for 2.5% (1.9%–3.2%) of global DALYs and dysthymia for 0.5% (0.3%–0.6%)(Ferrari,2010). The World Health Organization estimates that depressive and anxiety disorders lead the list of mental illnesses across the globe and these disorders are responsible for approximately 25% of all visits to health care centers around the world. According to one study, it is estimated that 121 million people are suffering from depression )Lembert, 2006:498). Psychological disorders such as depression have been studied in different disciplines as various as psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, epidemiology, and sociology. The sociological perspective, through emphasis on external factors, studies the effects of social structures and pattern of relationships on social disorders. For example, by concentrating on external factors, sociological approaches study the effects of social structures like gender on mental disorders. The self-silencing model suggests that cognitive schemas about how to create and maintain safe, intimate relationships lead women to silence certain feelings, thoughts, and actions. It contributes to a fall in self-esteem and feelings of “loss of self' ' as a woman experiences, over time, the self-negation required to bring herself into line with schemas directing feminine social behavior (jack,1992: 98). Four rationally derived subscales measure the relational schemas central to self silencing, and each is understood as an interrelated component of the overall construct. The subscales are considered to reflect both phenomenological and behavioral aspects of self silencing: 1) Externalized self-perception, which assesses schemas regarding standards for self-judgment and includes the extent to which a person judges the self through external standards.2) Care as self-sacrifice, which measures the extent to which relationships are secured by putting the needs of others ahead of the needs of the self.3) Silencing the self, which assesses the tendency to inhibit self-expression and action in order to secure relationships and to avoid retaliation, possible loss, and conflict.4) Divided self, which measures the extent to which a person feels a division between an outer “false” self and an inner “true” self, resulting from hiding certain feelings and thoughts in an important relationship (Jack, 2010:6) For women, gender roles provide a social context encouraging self-silencing. These roles indicate that relationship maintenance is paramount to one’s own needs and that women are to be deferential to others. Women’s self-silencing becomes internally directed when they use an external standard to determine whether they should speak and when they believe that speaking one’s voice threatens relationships they believe they are responsible for maintaining (Swim,2010:494). The present article examines sociological approaches towards gender differences and self-silencing in formation and intensification of depression in the family. In fact, the main question is how and through what mechanisms, “gender roles”, which are affected by the socio-cultural structures defined as appropriate behavior for men and women in every society, will trigger and intensify different levels of depression between the two genders?

documentary method has been applied. By considering sociological approaches related to depression, the present study aims to explain gender differences regarding depression.

Based on the documentary findings, men and women have different psychological and emotional reactions toward social stress; that is to say women internalize psychological stresses and therefore experience higher levels of depression, whereas men are forced to externalize stress and hence are more subject to drug abuse and mental disorders. According to the theoretical model, which includes role, power, gender, and self-silencing, the emergence of learned self-silencing, with gender-role-stereotypes based on socialization, brings about or intensifies psychological, gender specific disorders. As a result, “redefinition of gender role stereotypes and modification of self-silencing mechanisms could be considered as a macro sociocultural strategy in reduction of psychological disorders.”