%0 Journal Article
%T WomenĄŻs Experiences and Perceptions of Depression in India: A Metaethnography
%A Anindita Bhattacharya
%A David Camacho
%A Ellen P. Lukens
%A Laura L. Kimberly
%J Qualitative Health Research
%@ 1552-7557
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1049732318811702
%X In India, social determinants of health, including poverty, domestic violence, and inadequate social support disproportionately affect women, leaving them more vulnerable to depression than men. We conducted a metaethnography to synthesize qualitative data from 13 studies (1987¨C2017) that explored womenĄŻs experiences and perceptions of depression in India. We used a feminist standpoint to critically examine how gender shapes these experiences and perceptions. Indian womenĄŻs experiences of depression were embedded in their social worlds. Women perceived interpersonal conflict, caregiving burden, domestic violence, financial insecurity, adverse reproductive events and widowhood as causes of depression. Women used cultural expressions to describe physical, emotional, and cognitive distress. The detrimental impact of discriminatory social conditions, gender inequalities, and traditional gender roles on Indian womenĄŻs mental health highlights the need for gender-sensitive mental health research and practice that can attend to womenĄŻs sociocultural context and promote values of gender equality and social justice
%K gender
%K feminism
%K depression
%K mental health and illness
%K qualitative
%K India
%K meta-ethnography
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1049732318811702