Reassessing mental health of women in Calcutta
Chakraborty, A.
Journal of the Indian Medical Association 103(2): 72 74-76 98
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-5847 PMID: 16008317 Document Number: 265318
The prevalence and approximate rates of mental illness among women in Calcutta, India are discussed. The mental disorders associated with women are: mental retardation, pscyhoses, abnormal personality, paranoia, psychoneuroses, and distress. The common symptoms are identified as anxiety, depression, somatization, conversion disorder or hysteria, obsessive compulsive disorders, phobias, purity mania or suchibai, and possession state. Some important correlates of mental disorders in women are age, marital status, economic status and location, education, and joint families. It is concluded that common mental disorders are highly prevalent among Bengali women.