Why Women Are Diagnosed More, But Understood Less

Hey!

How's it going?

There’s a reason so many women feel like something is wrong with them; and it’s not because women are more emotional, fragile, or “bad at handling life.”

It’s because female biology has been oversimplified, ignored, and misunderstood for decades.

Women are diagnosed with anxiety, depression, ADHD, mood disorders, and emotional dysregulation at significantly higher rates than men. That fact alone often gets framed as proof that women are “more prone” to mental health issues.

But that framing misses something critical:

Women don’t struggle more because they’re weaker.
Women struggle more because their biology is more complex...and rarely explained.

The female body is not static! We are not "mini men".
It is cyclical, adaptive, responsive, and deeply influenced by hormones, stress, sleep, nutrition, and emotional load.

When those systems are unsupported (or constantly overridden) symptoms show up.

Not because something is “wrong,”
but because something is being ignored.

Take stress, for example.

Women’s nervous systems are designed to be highly responsive. That’s not a flaw! It’s protective. But chronic stress, constant mental load, poor sleep, blood sugar swings, and hormonal shifts keep the nervous system stuck in high alert.

Over time, that can look like:
• anxiety that won’t shut off
• irritability or emotional overwhelm
• low motivation or brain fog
• trouble sleeping but constant exhaustion
• feeling “on edge” for no clear reason

Those experiences often get labeled as mental health disorders, without ever asking what’s happening physically underneath.

The same is true with hormones.

Fluctuations after pregnancy, during perimenopause, or under chronic stress don’t just affect reproduction; they affect mood, focus, resilience, and emotional regulation.

When hormones shift and the body doesn’t get support, the brain feels it first.

What many women are experiencing isn’t dysfunction.
It’s miscommunication between systems.

And here’s the important part:

When women understand how their bodies work (how stress, hormones, metabolism, sleep, and emotions are connected) they stop blaming themselves.

They stop asking, “What’s wrong with me?”
And start asking, “What does my body need right now?”

That shift alone is powerful.

This newsletter isn’t about dismissing mental health or pretending biology explains everything. It’s about adding missing context, so women aren’t left thinking their bodies are the problem.

Because knowledge doesn’t just create relief.
It creates agency.

And agency is where healing actually begins.

Next time, we’ll start breaking down one of the most overlooked pieces of women’s health (the nervous system) and why so many women feel stuck in survival mode without realizing it.

Until then, be gentle with yourself.

You’re not behind.
You’re not failing.
You’re learning.

Regina