Poor mental health in women is an issue which is often not addressed or spoken about. Women in India suffer from poor mental health due to many socio-economic, cultural and political issues which needs to be brought into the notice of society.
The Constitution of India gave to women, the fundamental right to equality and the Right not to be discriminated against on grounds of religion, caste, and sex. To undo the injustice done to them, the Constitution included a special provision in article 15 (3), permitting the State to positively discriminate in favor of women by enacting laws/provisions so as to ameliorate their social, economic and political condition and to accord them parity.
Gender has been described as a critical determinant of mental health and mental illness. The Indian culture is unique. Joint family system, patriarchy, marriage a must, especially for women; marriage is a sacrosanct union, permanent union; subservient status of daughter-in-laws at home, preference for the male child, practice of dowry, lower educational status of women, strict code of conduct for females, and primary roles of women being childbearing and child rearing, and the “Indian Paradox” (the married woman with severe mental illness, subjected to domestic violence (DV) makes frantic efforts for restitution of conjugal rights rather than for separation or divorce), are all part of the Indian culture. These factors significantly affect the occurrence, manifestations, treatment, and outcome of mental disorders in women of India. Thus women mental health can be conceptualized as having a wide range of related areas, including reproductive health, psychopharmacology, psychosocial determinants of mental health, and legal issues. However, traditionally, women mental health is conceived in terms of reproductive health, other areas have received little attention. According to research, Women in the younger age group, coming from rural areas and from lower or lower middle-class income group, and usually prone to poor mental health.
There is a lot of research and study being carried out in this field in recent times. the first research was done in the year 1969. India still has a long way to go in terms of research and creating awareness in this area. There are still a large number of women from various stratus and sections of society who suffer from poor mental health and are not even aware about its existence as a problem.
Zenana for women has tried to create awareness about some of the factors which cause poor mental health in women through our social media campaign. Women's mental health should not be taken lightly and we as citizens of this society should try and create spaces to discuss issues like these openly.
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