Is mental health contagious? Perspectives of lived experiences among Punjabi Patients in Pakistan

Abstract

Objectives:

This study aimed to explore the common perspectives in favor and against mental illness being a communicable illness and describe the role of familial communicability and social communicability in transmitting mental illnesses among the sample.

Methods:

A descriptive qualitative design was used in the present study. Purposive sampling was used to gather data through in-depth interviews with registered patients (n=35) in the healthcare facilities of district Sialkot. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected.

Results:

The results showed that the people who were in physical contact with individuals suffering from mental illnesses through caregiving, family dynamics, and social contact were proven to be at higher risk of vulnerability to mental ailments. The results were divided into three themes followed by their subthemes. The first theme was “Perspectives regarding the communicability of mental health” (Perspectives in favor of communicability of mental illness, Perspectives against the communicability of mental illness). The second theme derived was “Familial communicability”. The third theme drawn was the “Role of social forces in triggering mental illnesses” (Social Contact as a source of contagion, Family as a contagion, and Caregiving as a contagion).

Conclusion:

Mental health issues are seldom acknowledged and addressed in South Asian communities. The debate regarding mental illness being communicable has extreme potential if more empirical evidence surrounding the debate is achieved. This research will help raise awareness regarding the communicability of mental illness.

Keywords: Mental health, Contagious, Social communicability, Ecological communicability, Familial communicability, Traumas

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20801152