Mujeres abnegadas: The influence of gender expectations on the psychiatric encounter in Mexico

Abstract

Theories on the cause of mental and emotional distress contribute to illness course and treatment. The theorizing of women's experience “as problem” has been widely critiqued by feminist psychologists yet continues in clinical practice. This qualitative study reports on data collected in a psychiatric outpatient clinic in south/central Mexico on the culturally embedded causal theories of mental illness among Mexican patients, a family member or caregiver, and their psychiatrists. The author reports on the influence of gender expectations and the view of “women as problem” in Mexico. Specifically, stakeholders considered that the idea of “ mujeres abnegadas” (self-sacrificing women) was the cause of illness in female patients diagnosed with depressive or anxiety-related disorders. In the face of gendered violence and abuse, Mexican women were expected to be silent and submissive, to suppress their thoughts and feelings, and to endure (“ aguantar”) their experiences to conform to gender-based expectations, and psychiatrists expressed little hope of alleviating women's suffering. The author discusses her findings in the context of broader sociocultural factors and globalizing forces in psychological theory and practice and provides future directions to help de-pathologize patients’ distress, broaden awareness of the contextual forces that influence distress, and galvanize appropriate resources and support.