Stereotypes and female anxiety

Anxiety disorders are predominently female problems (with women twice as likely to be diagnosed with most of the anxiety disorders than men)*. I'm not sure if it is some psychiatric bias or what, as I hate to call the tendency biological, but thats how it is for now at least.

There are many things though I hear, even from other women, about anxiety in general. They are stereotypical and completely incorrect. In general, many of them are used as stereotypes against women as ways to dismiss them.

1. She is only anxious/stressed/bitchy/etc because she is menstrual.
2. It's just PMS/hormones.
3. They're just being over-emotional.
4. She just wants attention.
5. She just needs someone to talk to.

All of them get to me, but that last one really makes me angry because many doctors believe this. I've heard plenty of times that someone with anxiety just needs to talk it out and it will all be better. I'm not dissing going and talking with a psychologist if one feels it helps you, sometimes it does. But if just 'talking it out' really worked as well as everyone says it does, there wouldn't be 40 million adults in the US suffering from some form of anxiety disorder. Trust me, many are pretty damn talkative (myself included).

What major anxiety isn't:

1. It isn't a cry for attention; many times attention makes it worse.
2. It isn't lonliness; though many with anxiety end up lonely because of the disorder.
3. It has little/nothing to do with hormones, menstration, or any other female 'ailment'.
4. It isn't PMS. PMS may be its own disorder (it is officially recognized by the APA, though only around 3-9% of women meet the diagnosis requirements**), but it is temporary, anxiety disorders don't go away.
5. It is not just being emotional, there are physiological aspects as well.

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*Stats and Facts about Anxiety Disorders
**Is PMS real? APA