Lived Experiences of Women with Major Depressive Disorder

Culture contributes and influences the identity of people in a way that shapes their identity, beliefs and personality to feel socially integrated with people. Mental health disorders specifically expression of depressive symptoms among women in south Asian culture is misinterpreted and misjudged. To explore how Pakistani women experience and express their depressive symptoms, current study employs Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Semi-structured interviews with 20 women having a diagnosis of depression revealed that cultural stigma enhances emotional repression, economic dependency restricts access to mental health care, and fixed religious beliefs create a contradictory coping strategy. The findings demonstrate that although women with depressive symptoms have spiritual aspect, social support, and internal coping mechanisms to manage resilience, gendered pressures in family dynamics but also cause emotional alienation. These results provide clinical insight into the phenomena of mental health with cultural identity and emphasize the need for faith-integrated therapy, community-based psycho-education, and reasonably priced treatment. The study highlights the urgency of normalizing emotional expression, implementing gender-sensitive treatment techniques, and addressing systemic barriers in mental health through culturally relevant interventions.