ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author applies a gender and cross-cultural perspective on mental health and mental illness, considering the conditions and factors associated with both at various life stages, and offering proposals for areas for investigation and action. Risk factors for mental, developmental and behavioral disorders for children include biological and environmental deficits and/or insults. From menarche to menopause women's reproductive cycle has been mystified by ritual, stereotype and medicalization. Physical and mental health, income, education, mental status, social integration, environmental stressors and supports, as well as attitudes towards aging and gender all affect the quality of life and ability to cope of older women. Blumenthal's risk assessment provides some useful clues to gender differences in suicidal behavior. In recent years, mental health professionals have developed principles and guidelines for therapy and counseling to reduce gender and culture bias and sex-role stereotyping.
