CLAIM: A viral Instagram post claims 80% of autoimmune diseases occur in women due to personality traits like people-pleasing, suppressing anger, and prioritising others’ needs over their own. It states these behaviours cause chronic stress, weakening immune regulation and triggering autoimmune disease. 

FACTS: Studies show that autoimmune diseases are significantly more common in women, largely due to biological factors such as genetics, hormones and sex chromosome differences, rather than personality traits or behaviour. While chronic stress may influence immune activity, experts note there is no established scientific evidence linking traits like being “too nice” or suppressing emotions to the direct development of autoimmune diseases. 

An Instagram post by the account with.penelope, which has about 62,000 followers, has received more than 1,400 likes for claiming that autoimmune diseases in women are linked to certain personality

The post lists four characteristics it says are common among people who develop autoimmune conditions, including a tendency to “put other people’s emotional needs ahead of their own” and to repress “healthy anger.”

The caption accompanying the post expands on the claim, stating that “80% of autoimmune disease cases are in women” and adds that this is not “because their bodies are weaker” but “because of how our culture conditions them to live.” 

It attributes this alleged link to behaviours such as putting others’ needs first, identifying with “duty, role, and responsibility instead of self-care,” being “nice at all costs,” and feeling “responsible for other people’s feelings.” 

According to the caption, this pattern of “constant self-suppression creates chronic stress,” which in turn “weakens the immune system” until “the body turns against itself.” The post links this framework to the work of Canadian physician Gabor Maté. 

The post ends by asking users, “Which of these patterns have you seen in yourself or among the women around you?” 

What have studies found? 

A narrative review published in the journal Cureus in 2020 stated that autoimmune diseases are present “with a clear gender bias with a greater prevalence amongst women, occurring at a rate of 2 to 1.” It further noted that “many autoimmune disorders tend to affect women during periods of extensive stress, such as pregnancy, or during a great hormonal change.”

The authors, however, pointed out that “the exact mechanism of such autoimmune conditions is not well understood” and that the disorders “occur as a result of multiple factors as some disorders may be genetic, while others are sporadic.”

A review published in the journal Exploration of Immunology in 2026 examined the biological factors behind the higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases among women. The study described autoimmune diseases as “a heterogeneous group of disorders characterised by a breakdown of immune tolerance and chronic immune-mediated tissue damage.”

The review stated that these disorders result from “a complex interplay between genetic susceptibility, hormonal influences, immune regulatory mechanisms, and environmental exposures collectively referred to as the exposome.” It added that a “striking feature” of autoimmune diseases is their “pronounced sexual dimorphism, with a markedly higher prevalence in women for most conditions.”

The authors explored several biological mechanisms, including “sex chromosome-linked effects including X-chromosome inactivation” and “the immunomodulatory impact of sex hormones across different life stages.” 

The review concluded that there is a need for “a sex-aware and personalised approach to understanding, diagnosing, and treating” autoimmune diseases.

Expert insight

Dr Chethana D, senior consultant, rheumatology at Aster CMI Hospital, Bangalore, explained that while women make up a large share of autoimmune disease patients, the reasons behind this are biological rather than behavioural. 

“Women are affected by many autoimmune diseases more frequently than men, and some estimates suggest that around 80% of people living with autoimmune diseases are women,” she said. “This is a broad estimate and does not apply equally to every autoimmune condition.”

She stressed that personality cannot be blamed for the disease. “There is no established scientific evidence that personality traits such as being too nice, people-pleasing, self-sacrificing or putting others’ needs first directly cause autoimmune diseases,” she clarified. “It is also important that patients do not blame themselves for their illness or believe that their personality made them sick.”

Dr Chethana cautioned against oversimplification of suppressed emotions. “It would be inaccurate to say that suppressing anger directly causes immune dysfunction or autoimmune disease,” she remarked, while acknowledging that “persistent emotional stress and difficulty processing emotions can affect the body’s stress-response systems.”

She further pointed out that “stress alone should not be considered a proven or universal trigger for autoimmune disease,” and emphasised that “autoimmune conditions generally result from multiple factors interacting over time.”

“Biological differences involving sex hormones, chromosomes and immune responses may contribute to the higher occurrence of many autoimmune conditions,” Dr Chethana said. “Autoimmune illness cannot be attributed simply to personality, emotional behaviour or stress.”

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