Are women more understanding of mental illness than men?

I find the women in my life tend to be more understanding of my mental disabilities than the men, who tend to be judgmental or don't see it as a problem. Why is this? Is it because mental problems primarily cause emotional pain?

Public Comments

1. Not really. I think its equally for fair for man & woman.
2. some man are just more insensitive they wont even admit when they have a problem let alone when somebody else has one. So yes I do think women are more understanding about these things
3. women are always more caring than men we just really don't give a f usually
4. It's been my experience, as well, that women are generally more understanding & open about mental illness. Society generally has a very negative view of mental illness & it has only been more recently that people are looking into such things as depression, bipolar personality disorder & schizophrnia. Society also usually expects men to be strong & thus less emotional, so yes, I think that is a very real possibility. It's rather sad because this sort of stigma prevents some men from seeking help.
5. it depends on the person not the gender or sex
6. I think you're right. I have found that men talk in a more negative way when talking about mental illness and women have more compassion. I think women are more emotional then men and that we can see things from another point of view. Most men don't like to talk about feeling and sappy things, so when they are confronted by someone with a mental illness, they don't react well.
7. No, it is because to men, no one else matters but themselves.
8. Women care more. This is a good question and I just want to point out that in my psychology program there are more females than males. I believe that over time there will be more women than males in the mental health profession because yes, they are more understanding.