Gender, Mental Health and Political Representation

Women are almost twice as likely as men to report experiencing depression (Kuehner, 2017). This gendered asymmetry is also present amongst elected representatives, with women politicians experiencing higher levels of mental ill-health than their male counterparts (Weinberg, 2024). Concomitantly, studies have also found that voters tend to punish candidates with depression at the ballot box (Loewen and Rheault, 2021) which has obvious implications for when, whether, how and which politicians may choose, or feel able, to disclose mental ill-health (Evans and Reher, 2024). Drawing upon studies from gender and politics, disability and politics as well as political psychology, this exploratory paper examines the relationship between gender and mental ill-health amongst politicians. We pay particular attention to several inter-related questions: 1) what are the conditions of elected office that produce high levels of mental ill-health disorders amongst politicians in general but women politicians in particular? 2) how does intersectionality help us understand which types of politicians may feel able to disclose or discuss mental ill-health? 3) what role does gender play in understanding media and public responses to mental ill-health amongst politicians? In addressing these questions, we seek to explore the role that increased violence against women in politics plays in producing mental ill-health, and how that compounds existing gendered and ableist approaches to political representation.