Women’s Mental Health Psychologist Melbourne

Women’s Mental Health – gender specific care

As identified by the Women’s Mental Health Alliance (2021) there are many gendered discrepancies in mental health outcomes. Globally, women are twice as likely as men to suffer from a mental illness. The gender differences in the mental health outcomes in Australia are not simply due to different help seeking behaviours between men and women, but represent the unique biological (e.g. hormonal or reproductive), social (e.g. access to power and resources) and environmental (e.g. trauma in early and later life) factors which impact women differently.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that in Australia females report consistently higher levels of psychological distress than males, are more likely to experience anxiety and mood disorders, be diagnosed with PTSD and are more likely to engage in self harm or suicidal behaviour than males.  Of those hospitalised in Australia with an eating disorder, 95% of them are females.  

Gender intersects with other forms of inequality and discrimination to influence the mental health of a diverse range of groups of women in Australia including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, young women in adolescence and early adulthood, pregnant women and new mothers, migrant and refugees, women in the LGBTQIA+ community, women with disabilities, single mothers and women in rural and regional areas. 

At Dandelion Lane Psychology, we support the fostering of a gender responsive, intersectional, trauma-informed approach to mental health care for all clients. 

Annual studies conducted by the Liptember Foundation over the past four years revealed that 1 in 2 Australian women continue to experience mental health issues in 2025 and almost 25% have a severe condition.  Their report “Beyond the Surface: Investigating the Mental Health Realities for Australian Women in 2025” revealed that more than 37% of women experiencing menopause or perimenopause are suffering with perimenopausal depression or anxiety in 2025.  Amongst Indigenous women who reported experiencing mental health issues there were 24% who reported PTSD which is a higher rate than the 18% of non-Indigenous women with reported mental health issues reporting PTSD.

Major triggers underlying women’s mental health issues in 2025 according to the report were low self-esteem or confidence (50%), financial stress/pressures (45%), low self-worth (42%), sleep deprivation or sleep disturbances (40%) and pressure from being too hard on oneself (40%).