In South Asia, around 150 to 200 million people suffer from mental illnesses but unfortunately, there is no treatment and support as mental health is mostly overlooked in this region. Mental health is determined by multiple factors and a key aspect of it is socio-economic factors. In this series of articles by Ramsha Saghir, we are going to talk about the effect of societal pressure on mental health.
Mental health is an integral part of a healthy, progressive society. Mental health is not just the absence of mental illnesses but a state of well-being which allows individuals to exercise their full potential, to be productive and allow them to be active members of the community.
This article will focus on the foundational unit of the society, which is “family”. A family is obliged to guard the standards of the conduct of a society. The most commonly faced pressures by a family are, the pressure to maintain a social status or financial responsibility, the pressure to get married and to have kids.
Societal pressure arises when a person has to decide on a partner for themselves, even after much awareness and advancement in society, the mindset of our society remains the same. It is unacceptable for people to find a partner for themselves and the dating culture, although rising in secrecy but it is still not encouraged which adds another pressure on the people to hide it from the society.
Arranged marriages in our cultural and social context strengthen the structures of patriarchy making women subservient to men where choice of women is ignored in most cases. Arranged marriages are mostly done on the basis of the social status, few “esteemed professions” and appearance of a woman is given preference ignoring the fact that even if the couple seems good apparently they might not be compatible mentally.
Moreover, marriage in our society is considered as an achievement an ultimate goal for women rather than a part of life. There is a lot of pressure on the individuals to get married in their 20s and 30s, which takes a toll on their mental health.
Some people comply with the expectations of society but they lose their individuality and self-concept in the process. Most of the people who are involved in this process have anxiety, depression, or relapse of previous mental illnesses and their mental health and resilience is compromised in the long term. Marriages done under pressure often lead to unhappy marriages in our society due to a lack of understanding between the partners. In arranged marriages, at times women have to accept a certain degree of partner violence in order to make their marriage work and avoid the social stigma of being a divorcee. This not only hinders the growth of a healthy family but also gives rise to mental health issues in the next generation as well.
In our society, the other most commonly seen issue is of a couple being pressured to have kids. In many cases, a child may add to the stress of the struggling couple in terms of compatibility, finances or the couple might just not be ready to have a child yet. Having a child when you are not ready creates stress for parents as individuals, as well as the couple as a unit. Since mothers get most of the responsibility of child’s care, the relationship between the couple sometimes deteriorates to a certain level while the bond between mother and child grows stronger. This strains the relationship and leads to stress in both the mother and father either due to financial reasons or the gap created due to additional responsibilities.
A lot of women are seen suffering from postpartum depression or episodes of other mental illnesses after having a child leading to a strenuous family life. Having a child also puts a lot of financial responsibility on the father and a lot of future concerns arise which in turn affects the mental health of a man.
The stress related to a growing family is universal and not just limited to a certain social class or part of the world. The amount of care a child needs is intensive hence the couple gets to spend less time together, creating a connection gap between the couple as they have to plan things around the child and are bound. If the pressure of raising a child falls on one parent which in most cases is the mother then the mother feels alone in the process and the partner may end up being roommates rather than soulmates due to the lack of communication and unequal share of responsibilities.
In certain cases, if the child is born with special needs it needs a lot of understanding and responsibility from the parents about the child’s needs and raising a child with special needs may cause a burnout.
The last most important point to be covered in this article is about how the societal pressure to maintain a certain social status or financial responsibilities affect mental health. A number of studies conducted have demonstrated a link between financial strain and mental health problems. People who have financial problems have more day to day stressors to deal with due to lack of financial resources. It is commonly seen that in our society a person has to maintain a certain lifestyle as pressured by the society and nowadays, social media also adds to the anxiety related to it. In today’s materialistic culture, it is hard to meet the changing trends and standards when you are bombarded with the images of clothes, accessories, vacations, and other expensive trappings of wealth. When you are unable to afford these sorts of luxuries, you can feel inadequate or that you don’t fit into our materialist society. This can contribute to feelings of depression and low self-esteem.
People are pressured to feel that they are missing out on life due to the lack of financial resources and have anxiety about what the future holds for them. A person’s life choices get limited to the amount of money that he is earning. A lot of people have reportedly committed suicides due to the financial pressure. Research conducted in England shows that over 1.5 million people are experiencing financial debt and mental health issues. In Pakistan, where the poverty ratio was 39.3 percent in 2020-2021, the mental health issues are far greater than the estimates and survey with limited to no importance given to mental health.
