Why Pakistani Women are so depressed

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Why Pakistani Women are so depressed

By Abida Razzaque, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi

Our lives are full of emotional ups and downs. But when the “down” times are long lasting or interfere with an individual’s ability to function, that person may be suffering from a common, but serious psychological problem – depression. Depression is very common in Pakistan. Women are more prone to depression. There is need to explore effects of depression and the social and cultural factor contributing to depression because incidents are rising in country.

Clinical depression affects our physical well-being, resulting in chronic fatigue, sleep problems, and changes in appetite. It affects our mood, with feeling of sadness, emptiness, and hopelessness. It affects the way we think, interfering without concentration and decision making. It affects our behavior with increase ability and loss of temper, social with drawl, and a reduction in our desire to engage in pleasurable activities. Women bear the major burden of the family and suffer in silence. Depression is an inexplicable agony among women, almost unidentified among the mental health problem in Pakistan.

Some of the social factors contributing to depression in Pakistani women will discuss here. There are so many social factors like lack of women identity, lack of women self awareness, lack of women social status, sexual harassment, early marriages, dowry, violence like rape, acid burn, and so on. In cultural factors the concept of ‘chader and chardiwari’ plays a major barrier for the freedom of women in Pakistan.  ‘Karo Kari’, ‘Walwar’ (bride price), and ‘Watta Satta’ are some of the cultural pressure.

These were some very common examples of social pressures and due to one of them can end up in 70% of women with major depression. Here I want to share a true story of a woman which was shared with us in our class. A 12 year girl was married to an older man against her will. She had abortion. Her married life was not good. Her mother in law used to taking all the household works from that little girl. From her husband she also was having torture, and sexual abuses. After sometime she divorced. In her mother house she also tortured by her family and by the society. When she admitted in psychiatric hospital she was pregnant. This is not the result. Our society is full of such type of scenarios.

Moreover, there is a general reluctance towards seeking psychiatric help owing to the stigma, high cost, lengthy duration and side-effects of western treatment. The help seeking behaviors of mental illness quite different in Pakistani families. They are mostly treated by faith-healers, or priests or ‘mullas’ etc. their symptoms are considered to be a magical spell or ‘Asar’. Then they are taken to ‘maullvis’ or ‘pirs’ (priests or traditional healers). But if they have somatic (physical) complaints they are taken to homeopaths or ‘hakims’ or doctors. Women are unable to seek help as it is a continuation of their dependant role.

For the last 60 years we have been celebrating the Independence Day but we as women, are still unable to figure out the true nature of depression, especially in term of causation and approaches to deal with in. Ignorance has planted the seeds of malnutrition, mental backwardness, psychological depression and other social problems among women. Women’s health is not only a key factor to their socio-economic development, but it is also imperative for a flourishing nation and a healthy future generation. The mental health problems of the Pakistani women are congruent to the global issues of gender equity, violence and psychological well-being. As Nisar (2004) stated that Pakistani women are relatively better off than their counterparts in other developing countries of South Asia. However, great fundamental changes are required to improve their quality of life. It is imperative that constructive steps be taken to implement women friendly laws and opportunity be provided for cross-cultural learning. Strategies should be devised to enhance the status of women as useful members of the society.

2017-04-26T12:35:49+00:00