Mediating Structural Factors in Mental Health in Indian Context

Abstract

A structural condition, such as an economic crisis, wherein populations experience large scale job and income losses are generally seen to be related to increased rates of suicides. Mental health problems may be seen either as a response to adjust to such and other societal-level strains. Societies, where inequalities are relatively less, are seen to have better mental health, while in those where resources are unequally distributed have poorer well-being. There has been a growing interest regarding the effects of deprived social environments and its organization on its members' mental health. While particular racial groups in Western countries are more likely to be exposed to mentally unwell conditions, could such an explanation be tenable among specific minority groups in India. Research that looks into the social contexts of minority communities and the ways in which caste in India affects health in general and mental health, in particular, would be able to shed additional insights. Inequalities in terms of access to basic health care among poorer groups and skewed regional distribution of availability, the lack of its provisioning or an absence of it in itself should be considered as an important factor of large scale structural discrimination. A conceptual framework that is able to explain the pathways through which race or caste, gender, and SES interact and operate in complex ways to affect emotional well-being of some of these groups is now seen by many to be a more socially all-encompassing explanation by which these factors are inter-relationally understood better.

Keywords: Structural factors, mental health, Indian context, socio-economic status