Images
of GAD
Generalized anxiety disorder is a unique case in that it
is racialized as white and gendered as female. Woodman has discovered in
reports that “prevalence was lowest
in the youngest age group and increased with age: The prevalence in women aged
45 and older was 3.5% for those with current GAD and 10.3% for lifetime
occurrence of GAD” (Woodman 3). Researchers also “found that homemakers and
unemployed respondents (mostly permanently disabled individuals and early
retirees) had a significantly higher prevalence of GAD than other subjects.”
(Woodman 3). Since I am unable to find information that explains why this
disorder has been prevalent in white, unemployed, older females, I will look to
images that depict GAD and attempt to theorize why this disorder is prevalent in
this group.
After completing a
search on google images, I found that the majority of people depicted with anxiety
were white women. A few results were men, and nearly every
single person was white.
(http://www.natural-holistic-health.com/wp-content/uploads/HLIC/5eabfb2483dc42cd5415f8a0f55c6c73.jpg)
What do images say to people who may feel like they have a certain disorder but are unsure? These images demonstrate that anxiety is a white woman’s problem. For men and people of color, excessive worry is not within the realm of medicalization and can be tackled presumably through other means. These images can be both helpful and harmful as white women’s worry is legitimized through medicalization.
What do images say to people who may feel like they have a certain disorder but are unsure? These images demonstrate that anxiety is a white woman’s problem. For men and people of color, excessive worry is not within the realm of medicalization and can be tackled presumably through other means. These images can be both helpful and harmful as white women’s worry is legitimized through medicalization.
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