Women are more affected by mental illness than men.

The exception is if "more than one symptom is present,” said Robert Rosenman, WSU professor in the Department of Economic Sciences. “Then men are more impacted than women. And perhaps more importantly, personality affects how women handle becoming sick, while men of all types react the same.”

Rosenman worked with Dusanee Kesavayuth and Vasileios Zikos, both at University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok, Thailand, on the study.

The research included 2,859 people: 1,471 men and 1,388 women. Rosenman and his colleagues used a survey to determine personality types then analyzed the data to see how personality and gender affected the way people coped with becoming ill.

"Women with high agreeableness likely have better social networks and therefore more support for coping with mental illness," Rosenman said. "Women with low levels of conscientiousness are more apt to feel out of control on a daily basis, so they likely don’t see any impact from a mental illness."

The study found no correlation between personality type and the impact of a mental illness in men.

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