Women and Mental Health: Breaking the Silence on Anxiety and Depression

In India, mental health has become a taboo subject, more for a woman. Although people are becoming aware of it, anxiety and depression among women continue to be under-acknowledged. Cultural norms and societal pressures, besides the stigma surrounding mental illness, have kept many women from seeking some form of help to cope with their psychological state, thus allowing them to silently suffer through many years. This article deals with how women face challenges in terms of their mental health, the underlying causes, and what needs to be done to break into that silence. 

The Burden of Expectations: 

Indian women often are asked to prioritize others over themselves, whether it is their friends, family, or work. All the roles involved between a daughter, wife, mother, and professional come loaded with a lot of pressure. Balancing the roles yields burnout, and without an emotional outlet, many women come to realize increased levels of anxiety and depression. 

A study carried out by the World Health Organization indicates that depression weighs more heavily on women than on men worldwide. The Indian woman is no exception, and their vulnerability cannot be doubted, for obvious reasons-societal norms too, which discourage open expression of emotions, heave all this burden of expectations around women's shoulders, leaving them feeling isolated, afraid to share their struggles since they do not want to be labeled weak or inadequate.

Cultural and Social Stigma:

The stigma associated with the concept of mental health in India forces women unable to seek help. In broad aspects of the country, discussing their mental health issues tends to be seen as shameful, and thus, fears may result in judgments. Women are often expected to endure and mental health concerns are generally dismissed as overreaction or hormonal changes.

The lack of education and awareness about mental health issues in India and because of this many individuals continue to remain unaware of the symptoms of anxiety or depression, while some may even believe that mental health issues are spiritual or moral failures rather than medical conditions that require professional intervention.

Conclusion: 

The long silence that has surrounded women's mental health in India is slowly being shattered. Much remains to be achieved on the ways to adjust and create a supportive environment to improve access to mental health care to empower women to put themselves in control of their mental well-being.