Risk Factors for Poor Mental Health among Indian Women : a Systematic Literature Review

Mental health problems among women in third world countries have not received as much as attention as they deserve. This bachelor thesis discusses about Indian women, their place in the society and also the challenges which hinder the mental health care in India. Method of this bachelor’s thesis was systemic literature review, and it aimed to find out the factors which affect negatively to the mental health of Indian women. The search process for research articles found eight studies which were able to answer the research question adequately. As a result, five main factors decreasing the mental well-being were discovered. Those factors included: gender disadvantage; financial difficulties; experiencing violence; having problems within the family and lack of social support; and alcohol abuse of the husband. The outcome of the research showed that the factors mentioned were often connected to each other; e.g. alcohol abuse of the husband can lead a poor family in even deeper financial difficulty and both alcoholism and poverty increase the risk of domestic violence. In order to suggest topics for further research, it would be beneficial to repeat this literature review by focusing on the Indian men. By doing that, a more in-depth idea of the reasons of poor mental health in India could be revealed