India has been one of the rapidly growing middle-income countries in terms of population; however, the provision for a mental health-care system has been a challenge. Research shows that the past ten years have had increasing numbers in detecting mental health disturbances and the stigma attached to them.
The prevalence rates vary among men and women depending on the disorders, with women showing higher rates in some areas of mental health illnesses such as anxiety, depression, reproductive health, other unspecified psychological distresses, and general vulnerability due to their roles in society. Research shows that depressive disorders account for 41.9% of the women population as compared to 29.3% of the male population, the lifetime prevalence rate of violence against women ranging from 16% to 50%, and at least one in five women suffers rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. All these research and statistics show the dire need for destigmatizing mental health around the country and spreading awareness among women about these specific problems.
This Women’s Day, we “Choose to Challenge” these stigmas and gender roles around women to raise the understanding about mental health and its importance. The most crucial aspect of spreading awareness is through education and training, targeting the social and physical environment for addressing women’s mental health. Interventions aiming at both individual women and women as a large section of society are essential. Looking on the bright side, over the past few years, women have been increasingly joining the workforce instilling a sense of togetherness with several movements around social rights and normalizing mental health disturbances, like the #MeToo campaign. This has resulted in breaking certain gender-stereotypes, destigmatizing speaking about discrimination, and increasing awareness about mental health problems.
To all the women, this Women’s Day 2021, a quote to remember.
“Women, in particular, need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.” – Michelle Obama.
Importance of Professional Counseling: A friend or family member may listen to you, but they aren’t professionally, technically qualified or experienced to offer you professional advice. If you wish you can contact us at MindTribe to receive help from our team of expert psychologists.
About MindTribe.in.
MindTribe Founder Dr. Prerna Kohli, India’s eminent psychologist, established the company to leverage the strength of the online to make counseling affordable and accessible to everyone. MindTribe provides counseling, workshops, support groups, forums, and eLearning.
About the Author.
Jumana Attaree is a psychologist at MindTribe.in. You can learn more about her by clicking here
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of MindTribe.in, the Founders, or management team.
Acknowledgement: All images used are open source and from Unsplash.