Lived Experiences and Socio-Cultural Influences on Depression and Anxiety among Married Women in Ghana: A Qualitative Case Study
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Abstract
Background: Depression and anxiety are common mental health conditions that disproportionately affect women and are shaped by social and cultural forces. In Ghana, marriage is embedded within extended family obligations, religious expectations, and traditional gender norms that may intensify emotional distress and limit help seeking. Understanding how these socio cultural influences shape the lived experience of married women is critical for designing culturally appropriate mental health responses.
Objective: This study explored the lived experiences of depression and anxiety among married women in Ghana and examined the socio cultural factors that influence symptom expression, coping, and access to support.
Methods: A qualitative case study design was used. Purposive sampling identified married women who reported symptoms of depression or anxiety in a rural Ghanaian community. Data were collected through semi structured interviews, participant observation, and documentary review. Thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke guided data interpretation. Strategies to enhance trustworthiness included prolonged engagement, member checking, reflexive journaling, and triangulation of data sources.
Results: Three core patterns emerged. First, marital expectations and role obligations frequently contributed to emotional strain by constraining women’s opportunities to attend to their own needs and by normalizing silent endurance. Second, cultural stigma and spiritualized explanations of distress discouraged disclosure and diverted many women toward faith based or traditional remedies rather than formal mental health care. Third, coping was shaped by socio cultural resources. Informal support networks and religious practice provided short term relief while small scale economic activities sometimes enhanced autonomy and psychological resilience. Structural barriers including limited local services and concerns about confidentiality further impeded help seeking.
Conclusions: Addressing depression and anxiety among married women in Ghana requires culturally sensitive interventions that engage family and faith communities, integrate mental health into primary care, and support women’s social and economic empowerment. Future research should evaluate community based models that combine psychosocial, faith informed, and primary care approaches.
Keywords: depression, anxiety, married women, socio cultural influences, qualitative case study
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