Study the Effect of Masculinity on Symptoms of Depression among Indian Seafarers

Abstract

Depression being a psychiatric condition that can root from psycho-social and biological factors, it is a mood disorder that is very common and has a wide variety of reasons such as isolation, psychological trauma, loss of a loved one among many other reasons. The healthcare facility specially for mental health in India is still developing and the societal biases and stereotypes prove to be redundant in the situation. There is a stigma around the mental health condition of men due to the prevailing idea of toxic masculinity which promotes “toughness” and “tolerance” in men. The current study discusses this pressing issue in the context of seafarers who work in unusual work conditions, away from their loved ones, in isolation from the world for months. It is designed to study the correlation between masculinity and depression in Indian seafarers. The sample of the study consisted of three hundred Indian seafarers. The sub-scales of MMPI-II were used to measure depression and masculinity. One sample t-test and Pearson’s correlation were used to find the relation between the two variables. The results demonstrate a weak positive correlation between depression and masculinity in Indian seafarers. Hence, the hypothesis of the study has been accepted. There is a need for further research into this topic as there is lack thereof, to get more specific and reliable results between the two variables.