"Sickness" in The Walking Dead

With the presentation of American Horror Story as an artifact in class and it's correlation to the topic of discussion, I thought I would make a reference to another television show. I've recently been going through the episodes of The Walking Dead on Netflix and there is a moment in the second season when one character imposes his authority on another character on the basis that they are "sick." When Andrea loses her sister in a zombie ambush, she begins to feel that there is nothing left to live for and it's clear that she is depressed. Dale observes this and repossesses Andrea's handgun when she leaves it lying around. He refuses to give it back to her because he believes it is in her best interest. I thought that this instance was interesting and relevant because earlier in the show, another character, a male, is bitten by a zombie and becomes infected. When he tells the group that he wishes to be left behind to die, Dale does not oppose to the idea. I think it's interesting to think how the show's writers would have handled the scene if the character was a female.