Nurturing Mental Well-being Amongst Girls and Women in Rural Communities

When people think of the landscapes and life in rural India, it paints a picture of tranquillity and calm, something which is often boosted by our mainstream media with imagery and movies made of how picturesque and serene life is. As much as we would like to believe that life imitates art and the other way around, the reality of mental health and its importance in rural settings is often misunderstood.

The concept of mental health is new to all of us. While my parents did not grow up listening to words like "depression", "mental health" or "trigger warning", that is not to say that mental health was absent in those times. It just means that it was not a part of daily vocabulary or conversations, something which has very recently started to shift all over the globe, including our own country. While urban and rural communities have their ways of living, the idea of talking about one's emotions is not something that sits well with people from the get-go and nobody is to blame for that. Our education system, along with our socio-cultural foundation, needs to have more access to understanding mental health and well-being so that its normalization has a cascading effect.

It is somewhat true that you have increased exposure to new experiences and ideas when you're living in big cities. Nevertheless, talking about mental health continues to be difficult. The challenges of mental health are universal, yet in rural communities, they are frequently magnified by isolation, a lack of resources, and a lingering stigma that prevents open conversation and access to help. It is time we break these barriers, creating spaces where young people, especially girls and women, feel empowered to speak about their experiences and seek support.

The pervasive silence surrounding mental health is not born of malice; often, it stems from generations of ingrained cultural norms. In close-knit rural communities, where everyone knows everyone, there is usually a deep-seated fear of judgement - a fear that acknowledging vulnerability will be seen as weakness, that talking about emotional distress will bring shame, not understanding. This pressure to project a "tough" exterior can be especially damaging for adolescents, who are already wrestling with exploring and developing their identity, societal expectations, and the pressure of future goals.

For young girls and women, societal pressures can be uniquely intense. They often shoulder the burden of maintaining familial relationships, navigating gender roles, and facing limited career opportunities. This, coupled with the hormonal changes of adolescence, can create a breeding ground for lingering - often chronic - mental distress and emotional exhaustion, conditions that often go unaddressed due to the reluctance to speak out. This silence has profound consequences. Neglected mental health concerns can lead to struggles in school for adolescents, strained relationships, and a sense of confusion and isolation stemming from difficulties in seeking help. The long-term effects can ripple through entire families and communities, creating a cycle of distress that could be avoided.

My daily help didi, Niti*, who comes to help us at home with cooking and cleaning, lost her sister-in-law because she had diabetes which a doctor diagnosed in their village but the men and the elders of the community dismissed it, saying that she was feeling sick because she had a spirit that had possessed her. She was not taken to the hospital in time and passed away. My didi said that she was afraid for herself, wondering if ever things went wrong, if everyone around her dismissed what she was feeling and denied her the help that would save her life, what would she do? Imagine that being the case with a physical ailment diagnosed by a doctor. Mental health would not stand a chance in such scenarios to be supported.

Fostering a culture of open conversation and a radical shift from the traditional approach of sweeping problems under the rug would be the first step towards promoting help-seeking in our communities. The first crucial step is education and increasing awareness. Workshops and open forums can create safe environments to demystify mental illness, dispelling the myths and misconceptions that fuel the stigma. This will help people understand that they are not alone and that their feelings are valid and shared by others. It is also important to strengthen channels of support already available to people with information on mental health. Rural communities have their unique strengths of being close and creating spaces of help, which should be highlighted.

Beyond education, we need to create accessible pathways to support. This means bringing mental health services closer to where rural adolescents live. Technology should be leveraged to increase access for people to scientifically sound support, which is contextualized to the needs of the community.

Adolescents should be encouraged to talk to each other as well as trusted adults about their experiences, creating peer support systems, and fostering empathy around them. Parents and caregivers need to learn the skills to listen without judging to offer support without minimizing a child’s experience. The conversation has to move away from the pressure to be "perfect" and lean into acceptance and vulnerability. We need to build families and communities that are comfortable talking about difficult subjects without shame.

A shift in our outlook towards mental health will not happen overnight. It will require a concerted effort from every member of the community. But the potential rewards are immense: resilient, emotionally intelligent young people, healthy families, and a thriving community that embraces mental well-being as a critical component of overall health. It means creating a world where young rural adolescents and women can navigate the challenges of life with confidence, knowing that they are supported, understood, and never alone. This is a future we can build, one conversation at a time.

*Fictional name used to maintain confidentiality.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: