Women’s mental health
Women are an important element of our society. Without women the world is not as beautiful as it looks. Besides beautifying the world, women are in the forefront in almost all the fields. They hold an important role in the overall development of any society. Women is the backbone of any family, she is a wife, mother, daughter, a home maker, and she is available for everybody for everything, she has a universe inside her, she has emotions, ambitions, celebrations to enjoy, dreams to follow, mood swings, stress and very important is she has her inner self. Her health and wellbeing is the most important thing not just for herself but also for all those persons she has been taking care of.
Women has been drenched into different issues during different stages of her life, the problems changes with every phase of her life, there are physical, emotional, competitive, hormonal, abusive ,domestic violence, behavioural and many such issues. In all such issues Mental health is of prime importance, having a healthy mind and a body are both very important. Mental health means having a good way to deal with your feelings and to enjoy life but good mental health means you are able to cope with daily stresses and accomplish personal goals. Many things such as trauma, stress, sleep problems can affect your mental health. Everyone has good and bad days, a bad day doesn’t mean you have a mental illness, but you can still improve your mental health.
This is a proven fact (according to research) that women experience mental illness in higher rate than in men. Women are twice as likely to experience major depression than men. According to Dr.Uzma Ambreen,a consultant psychiatrist at Pakistan Association of Mental Health,”Around 60% victims of depression and anxiety are women due to one or more factors”. The reason for this might be as females are more sensitive therefore more likely to report such symptoms. According to “The Burden of Mental Disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (1990-2013)” mental disorder account for more than 4% of the total disease burden in Pakistan. More people are living with depression, according to WHO, it further says depression is expected to be the second largest cause of burden of disease by 2020. Women suffer a higher mental health burden.”Dr.Anwar Rafay said that “mental health disorders are taking an alarming toll on people in Pakistan. Women often in the prime of their lives are losing years of good health to depression, anxiety and other disorders”. The problem with this disease is that nobody or even the patient himself is unaware of the fact that he is suffering from mental illness. Most families are not prepared to cope with the fact that their loved one is suffering from some sort of mental disturbance. Mental disorders are common and widespread.
First of all we should know what Mental Illness is? A mental illness or disorder is an involuntary physiological or behavioural pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability resulting in an inability to cope with life’s ordinary demands and routines. There are many factors that contribute to mental health, they include:
• Biological factors: such as genes or brain chemistry.
• Life experiences: such as trauma or abuse and over the past few years security and terrorism have also become key contributors.
• Family history of mental health problems.
There are certain signs of Mental Health Risk, with the help of these signs one can have an idea that the person is going through some trouble, the signs may be;
• A change in personality, if someone is acting like a different person, this is a warning sign.
• Uncharacteristic anxiety, anger or moodiness
• Social with drawl and isolation
• Lack of self care or Risky behaviour
• A sense of hopelessness or felling overwhelmed.
Many people said that they found it difficult to make other people understand what they are going through or why they acted the way they did, including family, friends and health professionals. It is very important to pay attention to sudden changes in thoughts, behaviour and code of conduct as mental health involves our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing, It affects how we feel, think and act and it is very important at every stage of life, from childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Mental illnesses are of many different types, the common ones are: anxiety disorders, mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder),schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD),excessive worry or fear, mood swings, major changes in diet, sleep or weight patterns, social factors, suicidal thoughts, domestic violence, social isolation etc.
Among all, Depression is the most common issue people or especially women face .In Pakistan overall prevalence of depressive disorder and anxiety is 34%. Depression is a persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities for two weeks or more, it is the result of a magnitude of factors including genetic, environment, personality, upbringing, social etc. In addition, disproportionately high poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, lack of health and education facilities, poor housing, poor living conditions, pollution, no regulation of food, medicine, hospitals, poor justice system intensify the situation further. ”Despite common misconceptions, depression is not a sign of weakness but stigma and discrimination are preventing people from seeking the care they need ”says Dr. Fikri, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. WHO estimated that almost 18,000 people in Pakistan commit suicide annually while the number of suicide attempts is almost four times greater than these figures. Pakistan is one of those vulnerable countries where stress, anxiety and depression are at very high level. Depression and anxiety can affect women at any time in their life but there is an increased chance during pregnancy and the year following the birth of a baby. Hormonal factors related to the reproductive cycle may play a role in women’s increased chances to depression. According to WHO (2001)”leading mental health problems of the elderly are depression, organic brain syndromes and dementias. A majority are women”
The delima of our society is that, when a women becomes mentally ill, many of the relatives and friends say that ”is pay jinn ka saya hai” or “is ko nazar lug gaye hai” and later on when all such misconceptions or false assumptions are faded out then comes the stage where they take the patient to the hospital for treatment, but as a lot of time has been wasted identifying the problem, the condition of the person got worst and even then the family blames the women to be the cause of her own illness. The mentally ill women may be socially abundant by her husband and her own family.
A patient Sharmeen shared her case and said ”I am a cook, four years ago when my daughter was leaving for her education at Holy Fatima Nursing School, I got paranoid that I will die when she will leave, all this situation triggered my depression. I couldn’t sleep, I would lie on the bed and couldn’t sleep in fear that, if I sleep, I will die. I lost all interest in home, my family was worried about me. I was always in panic and anxiety. I want to tell everyone that if you feel the way I did, you should seek a doctor immediately because just like your body can get ill, your mind can also get ill”
Acknowledging the fact that someone is having mental issues, it is very important to find a solution to cope with the problem. There may be different ways by which we can help deal the situations, which include;
• Accept your feeling
• Handling unusual behaviour
• Establishing a support network
• Seeking counselling
• Taking time out
• Staying positive
• Getting physically active(exercise is one of the most effective way to improve mental health)
• Realise your potential
• Cope with stresses of life
• Work productively
Women’s mental health cannot be considered in isolation from social, political and economic issues. Education, proper counselling, training, interventions on the social and physical environment are important for women’s mental health.
One important barrier to mental health is the cultural belief system in our country, due to which mental illness is associated with supernatural forces, and consider the problem as a witchcraft, possession and black magic. Inaccessibility to mental health care facilities is due to stigmatisation of patients as ‘CRAZY’. Families often hide the problem to prevent the sufferer from being an object of discussion in the society. A major reason for this attitude in our society is lack of awareness regarding mental health. We give more importance to physical health over mental health. Cultural factors always hinder the progression of mental health in Pakistan. Firstly in our society there are many myths regarding mentally ill patients. There is a discrimination of psychosis in our society by tagging these individuals as fearful and violent. Secondly, we feel that through interacting with them, their evil spirit or possessions can harm us too. Thirdly, many people feel that the right place for them is in shrines, where they are physically harmed to get rid of these possessions. All these misconceptions increase the taboo around mental illness thus we need to understand that mentally ill people are challenged doubly, on one hand they suffer from the symptoms of illness and on the other hand the society increases their sufferings.
Another important factor is the contribution of mass media to stigmatisation of mental illness. Through television, radio and other social medias, mentally ill people are cruelly portrayed as a laughing stock. Moreover, they are stereotyped as different and subject of ridicule. Furthermore the community is highly influenced by the way media portrays mentally ill people as being involve in criminal activities. Thus these factors are the reasons that elaborate the stigma on mental illness.
There is a need to get rid of these taboos and start dealing with mental health in a positive manner. It requires a collaborative efforts by individuals, the community and stakeholders to address this issue in a prompt manner and to eradicate the consequences of mental illness. We must respect mentally ill patients as we respect others in our society as this will result in reduced discrimination and stereotyping. Moreover, our health care professionals must be trained in a culturally sensitive manner in order to avoid disgrace and acknowledge these issues in depth. There are only 400 psychiatrists available in Pakistan, which is not enough for a population of 200million people, our government needs to monitor human rights and increase awareness about mental health.
On a community level there must be a strong collaboration between healthcare providers and faith healers as it’s our responsibility to value and respect a patient’s personal believe. Additionally, we need to conduct awareness campings to enlighten mental health and illnesses and we can produce a mental health literate society and can acquire benefits such as prevention and recognition of symptoms. Our government must intervene to produce fruitful outcomes.
Mental health is important for a country’s progress. On an individual level, stigma and shame should be up rooted. Mental health is a challenge that needs global attention. Mental health has now been included in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this inclusion has a positive impact on population and countries where millions suffer from mental illness and need help. Every year,10th October is celebrated as the World Mental Health Day internationally, it is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma and the main objective is mobilising efforts in support of better mental health. The UN family in Pakistan also commemorate this day, many seminars, walks are being organised in connection with the day throughout the country for the betterment of the situation in our country. We all need to change our perception about mental illness and we all must accept and deal with these issues with a boarder aspect so in return we can up root this issue from our society.
