But Not Unhappy Science Friday: Gender stereotypes and Mental Illness

Well, I have to say, I don't think this bodes well for us depressed people: a recent study conducted by researchers from Purdue and Northwestern University found that if you have stereotypical depression symptoms people are less likely to believe you.

Here's a quick rundown of the study:

"The psychologists decided to explore this provocative idea with a national survey. They had a group of volunteers from around the country, varying widely in age, education, and socioeconomic status, read a case history of a person with mental illness. Some read about Brian, who was a stereotypical alcoholic, while others read about Karen, who showed all the classical symptoms of major depression. Still others read switched-around versions of these cases, so that Karen was the one abusing alcohol and Brian was depressed. The idea was to see if the typicality of Brian and Karen's symptoms (or lack of it) shaped the volunteers' reactions and judgments.

And it did, without question. As reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the volunteers expressed more anger and disgust - and less sympathy - toward Brian the alcoholic than toward Karen the alcoholic, and vice versa for depression. They were also more willing to help Brian and Karen when they suffered from an atypical disorder. Most striking of all, the volunteers were much more likely to view Brian's depression (and Karen's alcoholism) as genuine biological disorders - rather than character defects or matters of personal irresponsibility."

So men reach for the Kleenex box and start refusing to get out of bed. Ladies, if you want help, it's time to get a little tipsy!

Ludicrous.

p.s. Thanks Charlotte for the tip! And thanks Jezebel for bringing this one to light.