Adolescence brings about many changes in a girl’s body and mind. Some of it starts happening in the early teenage. Unwanted mental strain and mood swings are the first signs that puberty has done its job. Having the first menstrual cycle is a literal life changer for every girl and brings a lot of other troubles with itself. The first and foremost is not being able to think about oneself and worrying more about the thinking of relatives and society. At least in areas with lower education population, menstruation is still a thing of superstition and taboo. This brings about inadequacy in creating a surrounding or supplementation for menstrual hygiene. This makes young girls unable to process what is going on with their bodies and how to be safe by applying period hygiene. Government bodies and public organisation are certainly taking steps towards creating awareness for menstruation and removing the tag of taboo from it. However, there needs to be more responsiveness towards menstruation as this acceptance is what prevents it from taking a toll on women’s mental health. Here’s how menstrual hygiene plays a role in mental health for women;
What is menstrual hygiene and why it matters?
The importance of menstrual hygiene can be gained from the simple fact women discharge blood from their uterus continuously while they are on their periods. The necessity of period hygiene comes due to this discharge and women cannot risk being unclean or reduce health cautions during this time. Another issue that makes menstrual hygiene important is that the vagina becomes more prone to infections during periods because of the change in body chemistry. Leaving aside the mood swings and cramps that women face, managing the discharge and keeping oneself clean is a crucial part of menstruation.
Indian pharma companies have already put out a lot of products in the market to help women with the management of period hygiene. Unlike the old times when only the rich families could afford to provide imported sanitary products to their women, there is more access to menstrual hygiene products. Yet, there are still a lot of areas where accessibility to sanitary pads or other products is negligible to say the least. There are still such families where buying sanitary napkins is not a norm because of either going to far off town to buy a pack or because they are beyond affordability for them. The women in such families are still using old cotton rags to soak the period blood. In such dilapidated state of affairs, it is next to impossible for them to stay safe from infections or reproductive diseases. A large population of women still don’t know how to wear a sanitary pad or know that period panties exist.
How menstrual hygiene affects mental health?
Menstrual hygiene is not only a thing to be practices but also promoted. There has to be literacy about menstrual hygiene among people so they understand that women practicing it are safe and will never have to feel embarrassed due to odours or leakages. Having improper period hygiene affects the mental health of women as they are constantly worried about their next period when they will be looked down upon or will have to be locked up in a room to not catch and infection. Some of the following ways are how women are affected by absence of menstrual hygiene.
Social unacceptance and stigma
The ‘stigma’ is the cause of unacceptance when it comes to rural women with a second-hand suffering due to the society’s ignorance. There are still many villages in the country without much connectivity or educational institutions where people see menstruation as evil. Women going through periods are seen as untouchables and are asked to be in seclusion for the time. This causes feelings of self-loathing and lowers the self-esteem of these women. This loss of confidence or inferiority complex can be abolished only with education and promotion of good period hygiene. People need to be educated about menstruation and how better hygiene products and clean bathrooms can preserve the life and dignity of their women.
Missing school and self-dependence
A significant portion of rural India either has one obsolete government school or none. Still, there are girls who are adamant to receive education and become better than their surroundings. Due to the lack of basic physiological education amongst the families and even teachers, it is common for a rural girl to drop her education at the onset of her menstruation. A lot of girls who come from backward families in a village with public schools, miss school on the days of their period because of the fear of leakage and embarrassment. For most backward areas, the onset of menstruation means that the girl is now an adult and needs to get married to have babies. The fear of being judged outdoors if leakage occurs and family pressure of getting married makes a lot of girls lose their education. This requires changes in institutions in regards to hygiene and safety. Clean and proper toilet fittings like flush and sprays need to be in order for girls to be able to take care of their menstrual hygiene even when they are at school.
Health issues and future complications
Improper period hygiene management is something that can cause risky health issues for a woman and even create future complications in reproductive ability and uterine health. The body becomes more exposed to bacterial and fungal infections during the periods and not maintaining menstrual hygiene can cause septic shock to the body and can be fatal. The use of cloth instead of pads and menstrual cups will always keep the women at risk of UTIs, losing their ovaries, getting cervical or uterus cancer. These and many more health complications lurk in the onset of menstruation where hygiene is not practiced. The sexual and physical health issues lead to women losing their self-respect and value as an individual in the society. This causes some to even commit self-harm or become violent towards their peers. Which is why every backward society needs to be introduced to menstrual hygiene and every woman needs to be taught about self-preservation through cleanliness.
Feeling outcasted due to the fear of judgments and facing embarrassment due to leakages is what women in some areas and families face in their early lives. This leads to mental strain which changes the way they see themselves and others. The inferiority and anxiety makes them weak at heart and causes them to be subdued in a manner which can send them spiralling into self-doubt and even suicidal thoughts.
