Every Sixth Victim of Suicide in India Is a Housewife

Suicide ranks first as the cause of death for women between the ages of 15-39, which is also the time when they usually enter abusive and/or conservative marriages. Two recent reports, when superimposed, paint a dismal picture of the mental health landscape in India, especially women’s mental health.

More Indian women suffer from depression and anxiety disorders than men, and women with depression commit suicide more often than men with depression, according to a first-of-its-kind study, published in Lancet Psychiatry, which quantifies the burden of mental disorders in India. Additionally, housewives accounted for the second–highest percentage of all suicide victims in India in 2018, after daily-wage labourers, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report. That is, 17.1% of all suicide victims were housewives and more than half of all women suicide victims were housewives.

The Lancet report further makes clear the positive association between depression and suicide — a stronger link for Indian women than for men and a pattern repeatedly found in several studies. This is when the NCRB report’s details on the most common causes of suicides in 2018 become important: While ‘family problems’ topped the list, women committed suicide significantly more often due also to marriage and family issues and dowry-related issues. The Lancet report also found that one in seven Indians suffer from mental disorders with depressive and anxiety disorders being the most common ones, affecting nine crore people, combined.

When seen together, the gist is this: crores of Indian housewives are likely suffering from depression, and, if numbers are anything to go by, thousands are being increasingly driven to end their lives because of a manageable — and in some cases curable — disorder.

Nothing can be done about the fact that women are biologically more predisposed to certain kinds of depressive disorders, such as postpartum depression. However, the social factors — such as intimate partner violence and dowry — that are contributing to women’s, especially housewives’, depression, and in turn, pushing them to suicide, are entirely within our control to eradicate as a society.

“Many women face arranged marriages by force. They have dreams and aspirations, but they often do not get supportive spouses. Sometimes their parents don’t support them either. They are trapped in a difficult system and social milieu,” Dr. Vikram Patel, professor at the Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, told the BBC. “The resulting lack of romantic, trusting and affectionate relationship with your spouse can lead to such tragedies.” 31% of married Indian women get worse in poor, debilitating relationships — they face some form of physical and/or sexual violence from their spouses, which is often accompanied by verbal, psychological, and/or financial abuse from spouses and/or in-laws. This has a direct relationship with major depressive disorder, depressive symptoms, postpartum depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. To top it all off, the stigma of “log kya kahenge” around mental health keeps women more than men from seeking help.

Before marriage, young males generally show higher rates of completed suicide and externalising risk behaviours, while females benefit from stronger peer-support networks and protective social structures. After marriage, however, women in many patriarchal or traditional contexts face a sharp increase in psychological distress due to abrupt lifestyle changes, loss of autonomy, and heavy domestic burdens.

Before Marriage: Lower Vulnerability of Suicide in Females

Social Connections: Young women tend to cultivate close, emotionally expressive friendships that act as a buffer against stress.

Help-Seeking Behaviours: Females are statistically more likely to talk about emotional struggles and seek professional or social support early.

Externalising vs. Internalising: Young men before marriage often engage in higher-risk externalising behaviours (such as substance abuse or reckless conduct), which elevate baseline injury and mortality rates.

After Marriage: Increased Vulnerability of Suicide in Females

Role Disruption and Expectations: Marriage often requires a woman to leave her familiar support system (family and friends) and shoulder disproportionate domestic and caregiving duties.

Loss of Autonomy: Restrictive social norms, financial dependence, and isolation in new households can trigger chronic anxiety and depression.

Interpersonal Conflict: Stresses related to in-laws, domestic disagreements, and spousal discord heavily impact women who internalise emotional pain.

Abuse and Safety: Domestic violence or coercion within an unsupportive marital environment significantly heightens severe depressive symptoms and suicide risk.