IJSR - International Journal of Scientific Research

Volume : VII, Issue : VI, June - 2018

Dr. Ekta Arora, Dr. Suneet Jindal

Background:Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Many people suffer from

mental health issues in response to the pressures of society and social problems they encounter. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the

burden of depression is 50% higher for females than males.

Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted and 1000 married females were selected by systematic random sampling from rural and

urban areas of Distt. Amritsar. Pretested and predesigned questionnaire and PHQ9 scale was used to obtain valid results.

Results: In this study, it was observed that amongst working women, 25.2% were depressed amongst those whose husband used to drop them

while 20.7% were depressed amongst those who reached workplace by their own. Also, majority of women were depressed i.e. 25.4% and 26.9%

amongst those who had non–cooperative or indifferent colleagues at workplace. In both urban and rural areas, maximum women were depressed

amongst those who had indifferent and non–cooperative colleagues at workplace.It was observed that 10% women were depressed in rural areas

that had an incident of harassment at work place whereas no such case was found in urban areas. Also, this has been observed in the study that in

rural areas, majority (36.8%) of the women were depressed where financial matters were looked upon by their mother–in law. Whereas in urban

areas, maximum women (40%) were depressed who were themselves responsible to deal with all the financial matters and thus, the responsibility

on their shoulders could be the reason for depressive symptoms in these women.

Conclusion and Recommendation: Too much stress exacerbates depression. So, one should try to minimize the impact of stressful events like

work overload or unsupportive relationships.