Page 127 - Sanidhya 2024

especially for those who want to delay marriage 1. Open Communication: Intergenerational
or childbirth to pursue their careers. Older women conversations can help older women understand
who have already lived through these societal roles the lives and dreams of younger women, reduce
may face the “empty nest syndrome” when children misunderstandings and build empathy. For younger
grow up and leave, leading to loneliness and feeling women, hearing the stories of older women can give
purposeless. They may also struggle to reconcile the them valuable lessons on resilience and adaptability
changing roles of women around them, find it hard to and give older women a sense of purpose and
adjust to the new norms and often feel alienated. validation.

Though mental health awareness is growing 2. Mental Health Education: Educating women across
in India there are huge gaps in access to resources generations about mental health can break the stigma.
and services especially for women. Older women may According to 2023 NFHS, 68% of young women in
not want to or feel ashamed to seek help due to the urban areas would seek mental health support if there
stigma around mental health. Counselling or therapy is was no stigma, shows how important mental health
seen as unnecessary or indulgent which deters women literacy is.
from acknowledging or addressing their mental health
issues. For younger women though mental health 3. Support Systems and Resources: Organizations,
services may be more accessible societal attitudes can non-profits and government can work together to
still make it difficult for them to openly seek help. increase mental health resources available to women in
rural and urban areas. Special attention should be given
Also, mental health care in India is urban- to create resources that cater to the mental health
centric. Generational differences in acceptance and needs of women across different generations.
understanding of mental health also play a role in
whether women feel comfortable seeking help. A 4. Cultural Sensitivity in Mental Health Services:
young woman may want to go for therapy but her Mental health professionals can offer culturally sensitive
family may not allow her to, because of the older counseling that acknowledges traditional values and
generation’s perspective that mental health issues modern challenges. This will bridge the generational
should be managed privately or are even taboo. gap and enable women to seek help while respecting
While younger women may be aware of mental health their roots.
resources older women see mental health issues as
private family matters and are deterred by stigma from India’s generational gap poses a special mental
seeking help. Mental health services are also skewed health challenge for women. Each generation has
towards urban areas, with only 3 psychiatrists per different views on autonomy, gender roles and mental
100,000 people in India’s rural areas as per the 2022 health but there are also opportunities for mutual
World Health Organization (WHO) report. For many support and understanding. By creating a culture that
women even thinking of therapy is constrained by both respects these diverse experiences, India can build a
generational attitudes and lack of resources. more inclusive mental health framework that honors
tradition and progress. Ultimately it will need empathy,
To help women across generations have patience and spaces where women of all ages can
better mental health we need to bridge the gap thrive mentally and emotionally.
between traditional values and modern thinking. This
can be done by having conversations within families,
communities and workplaces.

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