Letters | On World Maternal Mental Health Day, let’s shatter the culture of silence
- Readers discuss how Asian societies can better support mothers facing mental health challenges, and foreign domestic helpers being sent across the border to work
In Asian societies, the role of a mother is often idealised as a selfless one of commitment, sacrifice and devotion. However, beneath this cultural reverence lies a stark reality: many mothers grapple silently with anxiety, depression and societal pressure to be a supermum. With the persistence of secrecy related to mental health problems and seeking help being seen as a sign of weakness, mothers often end up suffering silently in isolation.
A mother’s well-being is poorly understood compared to other common mental and physical health concerns, although it is intricately intertwined with adverse effects on children and partners, and has an impact on bonding and nurturing relationships. Unaddressed maternal mental health issues take a toll on societal systems as well.
Broader societal implications could be productivity decline, escalated healthcare usage and intergenerational transmission of mental health issues. By neglecting the realities of maternal mental health, Asian societies might be unknowingly contributing to the perpetuation of the cycle of suffering that transcends generations.
Dismantling this silence in Asian cultures requires a multipronged effort. Educational and awareness campaigns are an effective way of destigmatising mental health conversations among mothers, empowering them and reducing the fear of being judged and isolated. These open conversations can set the stage for recognising the importance of supportive, accessible and affordable environments within healthcare systems and developing culturally appropriate interventions to reduce the stress of mothering and improve the well-being of families. Integrating routine mental health screenings into prenatal and postnatal care protocols can facilitate early detection and intervention.
This World Maternal Mental Health Day is another opportunity to break the shackles of stigma that prevent mothers from reaching out for help. This will enable mothers and in turn nurture healthier, compassionate families and communities for future generations as well.
Dr Ketoki Mazumdar, assistant professor (psychology), Flame University, Pune, India
Number of helpers applying for China visas is telling
I have considerable sympathy for that view after my recent visit to the China visa office where, while queuing for my own visa, I was puzzled to see many Filipinas also applying for visas. I chatted with several of them who told me they were applying for visas to travel to Shenzhen to clean their employers’ houses.
None of them were being offered extra pay for this work and, while they had hotel bookings to satisfy visa requirements, they said these would be cancelled and they would be required to sleep in their employers’ houses.
This is a clear breach of their domestic helper contracts as well as the bar on working in mainland China on visitor visas. It is also doubtful that their employees’ compensation insurance covers them in mainland China.
All those I spoke to wished to terminate their contracts and seek other employers but were constrained from doing so by the tight rules concerning switching of employers and their desperate need to remain in employment to pay off hefty loans incurred in processing fees to get their current jobs in Hong Kong. Their employment agencies had no interest in their plight.
Douglas Miller, Tai Po
