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Gender inequality and structural violence among depressed women in South India

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

While exploring experiences of psychological distress among psychiatric outpatients in Southern India, we set out to further understand interpersonal and socio-cultural factors that are associated with depressive symptoms.

Methods

Using a grounded theory framework, we thematically coded narrative accounts of the women who sought treatment at the psychiatric clinic. In addition, we included author notes from participant observation and field work experiences in the South Indian psychiatric clinic.

Results

Of the 32 women who participated in the study, 75 % qualified for a diagnosis of a current major depressive episode. Depressive symptoms were associated with experiences of domestic violence and, in Farmer’s terms, structural violence. Although only a partial response to gender-based suffering, allopathic psychiatric treatment seemed the best available means of coping with their circumstances.

Conclusion

The paper moves beyond a medicalized model of disease and behavior to explore social and contextual factors that enabled these women to brave additional stigmas surrounding psychiatric treatment and seek a better outcome for themselves. It concludes by discussing the need for a multi-layered approach to addressing the suffering that women in South India experience.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded in part by a National Institute of Health career development award (K23 MH 084551, PI Rao). The authors would like to thank Drs. Janelle Taylor and Priti Ramamurthy for their comments on earlier presentations of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Global Health, International Training and Education Center for Health, University of Washington, Ninth and Jefferson Building, 908 Jefferson, 12th Floor, Seattle, WA, 98104, USA

    Deepa Rao

  2. Department of Psychology, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA

    Randall Horton

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    R. Raguram

Authors
  1. Deepa Rao
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  2. Randall Horton
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  3. R. Raguram
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Correspondence to Deepa Rao.

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Rao, D., Horton, R. & Raguram, R. Gender inequality and structural violence among depressed women in South India. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47, 1967–1975 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0504-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0504-y

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