Listening to Context: A Cultural Examination of Indian Women’s Mental Health
Abstract
In India, approximately 6.6% of women have a common mental disorder (CMD).1 The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the burden of depression (a type of CMD) is 50% higher in women than men.2 Considering the high burden of CMDs in women and the fact that India accounts for one third of the world’s poor,3 Indian women’s mental health is a significant issue presently. This paper will start by exploring the specific case of Indian women’s mental health, and its corresponding social, cultural, and economic factors of influence. It will then proceed to uncover the current debate on incorporating cultural and community level factors when providing mental health treatment in India and across the Global South. As the Global South urgently needs better mental health care, is a universal scale up of Western medicine appropriate?
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