Sama is conducting a study titled ‘Exploring Mental Health Issues among Young Women’. It is an exploratory qualitative research study being conducted in the two districts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The aim of this study is to explore the factors that affect mental health among young women including the context of early marriage.
The study aims to understand the coping mechanisms, support structure, health seeking behavior and the healthcare facilities that are accessible to young women. It seeks to develop an understanding of the community, especially young people’s perception of mental health and their lived experience of such problems. In this study, mental health is not defined using a ‘medicalised’ terminology of common or severe mental disorders but the concept of ‘mental wellbeing’ as experienced by the community.
This research is informed by the findings from our earlier research on ‘Early Marriage and Health’ that flagged several gaps in data, policies and programs as well as issues and perspectives on early marriage and its linkages with health, especially mental health.