Mental Health From a Gender Perspective

"The gender perspective is largely lacking in the discourse on mental health in India while the debate on women’s issues rarely incorporates this important topic. At the same time, there is a growing awareness about the special mental health needs of women. Bringing together original contributions from a variety of social science perspectives, including sociology, anthropology, literature and media studies, this volume will greatly assist a holistic understanding of issues relating to the mental health of Indian women. Utilising variously experiental, feminist and social science methodologies, the contributors discuss the many psychological, social and political forces which impact on women’s mental health. Part I reviews the domain of women and mental health, highlighting the crucial issue of the treatment of mental illness, i.e. whether psychological intervention should be gender-neutral, value-free and restricted to the clinic, or whether, it should understand women’s distress experiences as a response to abnormal social conditions. Part II addresses issues that impact on women’s mental health such as sexuality, fertility and reproductive health. It addresses a specific question—should the body be seen as a biological product or as a cultural phenomenon where rituals and customs act as female expressions against the oppressive patriarchal community. Through examples of domestic violence and child sexual abuse. Part III books at the victimisation of women by violence and links it to mental health, while Part IV examines the link between gender, diagnoses in hospital wards, the courts and the media, highlighting the destructive stereotypes that operate in the social domain and how women’s own voices are influenced by these stereotypes. Overall, the book explores perspectives from clinical work and community practices and addresses themes relating both to intervention and advocacy. Bringing together gender sensitive perspectives from a wide range of disciplines, it constitutes an important contribution to feminist discourse within the mental and behavioural sciences. As such, it will attract a wide readership in the social sciences especially in gender studies, mental health, psychiatry, social work, psychology, criminology and media studies."