Sociological Factors of Depression among Female University Students in Pakistan

Ayesha Fayyaz

Abstract

Depression in young female university students of Pakistan is a silently growing yet overlooked crisis, embedded in the deep roots of our sociocultural setup. However, with an increasing awareness about mental health, the persistent stigma, Patriarchal normative expectations, and structural inequalities do frame the experience of young women and push them further into seclusion and silence. The research will aim at the sociological factors associated with depression amongst female university students, hence social pressures, family dynamics, financial insecurities, and the expectations based on one's gender are contribute to mental wellbeing. In a qualitative research design, in-depth interviews were sought from four female students from private universities in Lahore aged between 18 and 25 years who have been diagnosed with depression. The study finds that depression is not an individual problem of the mind but rather an outcome of the living experiences of the self in a class-stratified and gendered society. It thus emphasizes the need for critical insight into depression as a social problem and the culturally sensitive interventions needed to deal with the mental health burden among young women in Pakistan