SUSCEPTIBILITY TO MENTAL ILLNESS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN TANZANIA

Abstract

This paper narrates information on how socio-economic status of individuals paves way for contracting mental illness. The study was undertaken in Tanzania at one of its Psychiatric Referral Hospital (Mirembe-Dodoma) whereby equal proportions of men and women psychiatric patients were involved. Data were collected using interviews administered through semi-structured questions and focus group discussions thereafter analyzed using SPSS 11.5. Obtained findings indicate that, varied socio-economic characteristics between men and women mold differences in exposure to mental illness. Married women are more susceptible to contract mental illness as far twice compared to married men. Depression, anxiety, psychological distress, sexual violence within and outside marital affairs, and domestic violence stood as contributing causes for women to experience more stressful marriage life than men. Different mechanisms devised to absorb the aftermath of failure in attaining livelihood outcomes emerged to trigger different exposure to mental illness between men and women. This was manifested in type and nature of people’s occupation and benefits accrued. All age cohorts indicated to succumb on mental illness with youth remarkably affected. Younger married women indicated to have had experienced more stressful marital relations than their young men counterparts. The composition of adult women suffering mental illness was twice that of adult men; 66.7% and 33.3% respectively. Finally this paper urges that, there is an urgent need for developing an effective approach to early mitigate causes for mental illness that numersouly emanates from socio-economic matters pertaining to people’s life, instead of awaiting for medical interventions that are costly.