Women Mental Health Illness and COVID-19 in Zimbabwe: A Gendered Perspective

Abstract

It is not contested that women are pillars of African society and contribute significantly to the economy, leadership and stability of families. Such work sometimes makes them vulnerable. The emergence of COVID-19 not only resulted in the death of so many people but also exposed more challenges affecting women, adding to their vulnerability. During the pandemic, women were disproportionately affected more than their male counterparts. Besides celebrating women's resilience and their selfless sacrifices in caring for the sick, there is a need to address issues of women's mental health during and after COVID-19. In Zimbabwe, there are not many public and academic discourses about mental health illness. People who suffer from mental health illness are frowned upon, defamed, and even neglected. Besides the challenges of adequate demography of mental health patients and how mental health illness is gendered, affecting women more than men. This article explores responses to mental health illness and COVID-19 in Zimbabwe. The social recognition theory is used to understand women’s behaviour leading to mental health illness after COVID-19. This paper uses social recognition theories to understand women's behaviour during and after COVID-19 that triggers mental health issues. Qualitatively, the paper uses desktop research to gather data. Besides finding out that there was an increase in mental health illness during COVID-19, mental health issues are complex and affected by cultural, religious and medical perspectives. Accordingly, this paper concludes that mental health issues are not yet prioritised in Zimbabwe. This paper recommends that double sustainable interventions and efforts be given to women to help them deal with mental health challenges, particularly during and after pandemics.