Mental health. When a person hears this term, words like depression and anxiety may cross their mind. But there is so much more to it word then just this. Menstrual health plays an integral role in the mental health of a girl. The inaccessibility of pads, poor hygiene or inability to talk about it can have disastrous impacts on the girls’ mental health. Can this issue be solved? Will people ever be open-minded? Will the government do something about this? So many questions left unanswered. But one thing’s for sure, it is not impossible. It is not impossible to manoeuvre your way through. We just need to be united. According to UNICEF, without proper education the stress and shame that comes along without your period can prove to be harmful for a girls mental health. Imagine a girl who just got her first period and all she knows about it is what her mother told her ‘you are becoming a women’, imagine her hiding from her friends and sitting in a corner because she doesn’t think she is clean enough to touch and have fun, imagine her nervous when she doesn’t know what to do when she stained her pants. The truth is this isn’t imagination anymore it’s the truth of innumerable girls all over the world. From not knowing about it, to being too embarrassed to admit they've got it, menstruation has been known to cause a great effect on a woman’s mental health. Only 48% of the adolescent girls population in India are aware about menstruation prior to their first period, but what about the other 52%? A whole of 77% of girls are restricted from going into religious places and even praying during menstruation and only 55% consider the process of menstruation to be normal. Furthermore, a whole of 54% of girls have only their mother’s as a primary source for menstruating. Even though organisations are working to spread awareness, girls still get embarrassed and barely know information about the subject. Do you think keeping menstrual health as a taboo is worth the mental health of so many young girls.
Article written by Harshita, Thea, Kabir, and Ahana
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