females as good prognostic factor for psychosis

News in psychiatry
Did you know that being female might help combat psychosis. For example, more women with schizophrenia marry than men with schizophrenia do, hence having a partner might help them cope with serious mental illness. Women with schizophrenia are less likely to abuse substances than are men with schizophrenia, and lack of substance abuse,this leads to better recovery. Female hormones may also boost women's ability to cope with illness. Psychopathology has been shown to improve when estrogen levels rise, and vice versa. In fact, it may be considered that estrogen serves as a "natural" antipsychotic by inhibiting postsynaptic dopamine transmission.