| REVIEW ARTICLE |
|
|
|
|
|
| Year : 2013 | Volume
: 55
| Issue : 6 | Page : 243-249 |
Hinduism, marriage and mental illness
Indira Sharma1, Balram Pandit1, Abhishek Pathak1, Reet Sharma2
1 Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
2 Department of Physiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
Correspondence Address:
Indira Sharma
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221 005
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.105544
For Hindus, marriage is a sacrosanct union. It is also an important social institution. Marriages in India are between two families, rather two individuals, arranged marriages and dowry are customary. The society as well as the Indian legislation attempt to protect marriage. Indian society is predominantly patriarchal. There are stringent gender roles, with women having a passive role and husband an active dominating role. Marriage and motherhood are the primary status roles for women. When afflicted mental illness married women are discriminated against married men. In the setting of mental illness many of the social values take their ugly forms in the form of domestic violence, dowry harassment, abuse of dowry law, dowry death, separation, and divorce. Societal norms are powerful and often override the legislative provisions in real life situations.
[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
|
