Women and mental health: Prospects and retrospects

Pages: 39-43
Aradhana Shukla (Department of Psychology, Kumaun University Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand)

In recent years considerable attention has been made by the psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals on the psyche of women and their mental health but due to the lack of awareness by women about their condition the status of their mental health has not so changed and facilitated as it should be. Not only in India but in almost parts of the world the condition of women is more or less same. Truly speaking women are struggling and trying their best to prove them on social records .One side of the coin reveals that women are highly appreciated and regarded on the outer realm of society but the other side manifests that the actual situation is very pitiable. Keeping these views in consideration this major project funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi is started by the author and during data collection and roaming in the whirlpool of literature it has been noticed that pooling across age, marital status, job status and many other demographic conditions the situation of women is not so well and it has caused many physical deformities and psychological problems in them. After analyzing the status of women as a gender the concept of mental health has been discussed followed by the perception of illness by the women. At last, some recommendations are made to raise the status of women.