Support networks among women to empower themselves and break out of isolation
Being a woman is a risk factor for developing mental health problems. As the World Health Organization (WHO) points out, gender fundamentally affects mental health by creating a position of social and economic inequality, hindering access to care and recovery. In fact, women are three times more likely to develop depression, the most common mental health problem and projected to be the leading cause of disability worldwide by 2030.
Gender bias also influences diagnosis and treatment, potentially leading to overmedication, health problems, and a decline in quality of life.
Women with lived experience of mental health issues face even greater discrimination than men with mental health problems and other women. Thus, self-stigma and stigma affect this group of women equally.
Why do women suffer more from mental health disorders?
Existing prejudices and stereotypes often portray women with mental health problems as asexual or hypersexual, infantilized, incapable of being mothers, maintaining a relationship, or making truthful arguments. Labels such as "crazy," "hysterical," "depressed," or "bad mothers" explain the prevailing view of this group (State Network of Women of SME, 2020), and distort their self-image and their perception as citizens with full rights.
Women with mental disorders are subject to multiple forms of discrimination: for being women, having a disability and a mental health problem, among other factors, which can intersect, such as sexual orientation or ethnicity, to give some examples, and which can aggravate their situation.
All of this means that, in many cases, women with a mental health diagnosis do not recognize that they are experiencing a violation of their rights or even violence, and often, despite recognizing the seriousness of the situation, they are unaware of the means and ways to assert their rights.
The figures confirm that approximately 42% of women with lived experience of mental health do not recognize themselves as victims of violence, and that those who do and report the situation are not given credibility, their story being doubted, largely due to the stigma associated with the mental disorder they have (Fedeafes, 2017).
Given this context, women with lived experience of mental health issues within the Salut Mental Catalunya network have decided to take a step forward and unite to create their own space within the mental health advocacy movement. The aim of this union is to support one another, reflect together on their needs, and work towards improving the quality of life for this group. Because who better than themselves to do it?
Why join women's groups?
Group work has proven effective in initiating the path to empowerment. Women's group spaces help them connect with one another, break out of isolation, and participate in a space of listening where they can share life experiences (situations they experience because they are women), perceptions, ideas, and feelings, feel understood, and become aware of their situation (Migallón and Galvez, 1999).
In short, women's groups empower participants to become agents of their own health in their recovery process, encourage active first-person participation, promote sisterhood, and foster the creation of meaningful bonds among participants. (Caballero et al., 2012).
Mutual support group for daughters of parents with mental health problems
And, above all, because working in groups makes them aware and realize that many issues that have made them feel as individual and intrapsychic are common to many women, marked by gender, culture and having a mental health problem (Nogueiras et al., 2005); and it promotes exposure to alternative models of thinking, feeling and acting.
Peer support networks
Social networks are defined as the collection of interpersonal ties that people maintain and that provide them with various forms of support, resources, and services. Social support networks are the subsystem that offers emotional reinforcement, cognitive guidance, and practical assistance, facilitating and promoting personal growth, healthy habits, and well-being (Litwin, 2020).
Social support networks in mental health represent a person's social environment. Everyone needs a supportive environment that provides affection, companionship, and support for their well-being, especially during difficult times. For people with mental health problems, having a social and emotional support network is essential for the recovery process, and even more so for women, given the challenges they face.
Therefore, support networks among women are an alternative for the promotion and prevention of mental health.
Through the Women and Mental Health program of Salut Mental Catalunya , we offer support and resources for the creation, consolidation, and growth of women's groups, or in other words, support networks among women. This includes self-managed groups (both in-person and virtual mutual support groups) and groups facilitated by a professional. The goal is to promote first-person support networks among women.
These support networks among women are especially key for those living in rural areas, where women's groups and mutual aid groups, whether face-to-face or virtual, offer an opportunity to break isolation and create bonds and a relational support network in populations where their situation is even more complex, whether due to the context or the geography of the territory.
Mutual support groups in the field of mental health
Women's groups are also drivers of activists who, through their participation and action, carry out the defense of the rights of the collective in the first person.
The main demands of the group are: visibility and respect for their decision-making capacity, education, work and dignified life, sexual and reproductive rights, motherhood and child-rearing, mental health care with a gender perspective, the fight against sexist violence, the use of inclusive language and, ultimately, the recovery and empowerment of women with mental health problems.
The Women and Mental Health program of Salut Mental Catalunya is a participatory program, created with and by women with lived experience of mental health issues throughout the region. We welcome any woman or group of women with mental health experience who are eager to participate and build a network. As Lourdes Da Costa, one of its founders, says: “To women who think they are alone, I would say that they are not alone. Come join us; there is a network where we all have a place. And yes, life is hard, but if the hardships are shared, usually, no matter how bad things are, you always leave with a smile.”
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