Contextualising experiences of depression in women from South Asian communities: a discursive approach

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present an interpretation of the accounts of depression provided by women from South Asian communities. The paper presents the findings from a qualitative study, conducted in the UK, which explored women from South Asian communities and their experiences of depression. It is argued here, through examples of women's accounts of their experiences, that depression is 'embodied', that is, grounded in the materiality of the body which is also immersed in subjective experiences and in the social context of women's lives. Qualitative data were collected from four focus groups and ten individual interviews with women. The analysis involved a discursive approach.Analysis revealed how women made strategic choices in how they presented their symptoms as legitimate and for gaining access to what they perceived to be appropriate healthcare. This is not to argue that this is a culturally specific phenomenon but one which is a feature of all healthcare negotiations.

“Tangled wires in the head”: older migrant Chinese's perception of mental illness in Britain

“…Participants likened the heart to a room with a door which could be open and shut. This observation concurred with the Western view of the body as a machine (Burr & Chapman, 2004;Helman, 1990). An open heart indicated that a person was able to release his/her pent-up feelings, but when these feelings or hei (Zhang, 2007) were shut in or blocked the person would suffer from abnormal moods (Zhang, 2007).…”

“…The South Asian participants (Burr & Chapman, 2004) and the Chinese (Tran, Wong, Yung & Lam, 2008) in Britain somatized their feelings and presented depression as an embodied experience. However, our participants understood depression as an illness rooted in a person's personality, a person who was unable to endure environmental stresses (Burr & Chapman, 2004;Liang, Gong, Wen, Guan, Li, Yin & Wang, 2012).…”

“…It carried deep stigma of fear and shame for the sufferers and their families (Littlewood, 1988;Ikels, 1998;Burr & Chapman, 2004;Lee, Lee, Chiu & Kleinman, 2005; Collins, Johnston, Fang, Fung, Kwan & Lo, 2006;Zhan, 2006;Yang, 2007;Liu, Hinton, Tran, Hinton & Barker, 2008;Blignault, Ponzio, Rong & Eisebruch, 2008;Yang & Kleinman, 2008;CMHA, 2009;Gallois, Cheneny & Smith, 2010;Chan, 2010;Yang, Phillips, Lo, Chou, Zhang & Hopper, 2010;Olafsdottir & Pescosolido, 2011;Liu, Ma & Zhao, 2012). For example, mental illness was purported to be caused by bad nerves and bad genes in the family (Blignault, Ponzio, Rong & Eisebruch, 2008).…”

“…A diagnosis of depression (Burr & Chapman, 2004;Liang, Gong, Wen, Guan, Li, Yin & Wang, 2012), and dementia (Ikels, 1998;Liu, Hinton, Tran, Hinton, & Barker, J.2008;Chan, 2010), often implied a weak will in a person's constitution. Goffman (1968) called this weakness 'abomination of the body ' (p. 14).…”

Increasing equity of access to high-quality mental health services in primary care: a mixed-methods study

“…Women from South Asian communities could be cut off from their familial and social networks if they failed to conform to the rules and roles of those cultures or the expectations of their partner or family. 29,218 when the inability to adequately perform social roles is legitimated by the sick role. Social problems relate to changes in, diminution of or incapacity to perform -or to be seen to perform -previous social roles that formed their identity.…”