Triple talaq judgement may relieve stress in women

Dr KK Aggarwal

Our Vedas tell us that every thought in our mind arises from the silent potential web of energized information or consciousness. This thought from the mind is then analyzed by the intellect and the personalized by the ego. It then leads to an action. Every action leads to a memory, which in turn leads to a desire and with this a cycle of action, memory and desire is set into motion.

If the desire is fulfilled, it leads to action again and then desire again. Repeated fulfillment of desires leads to habit formation, addictions and development of a particular personality. Unfulfilled desires, on the other hand, lead to irritability and then to anger.

Anger destroys peace of mind. It hampers the powers of discriminating between good and bad. Anger distorts intellect and fosters negative emotions. Loss of intellect leads to animal-like behavior and ultimately self-destruction.

Anger can be expressive anger or suppressive anger. Expressive anger or anger outbursts manifest as aggressive behavior, violence, hostility and cynicism. Emotionally stressful events, including anger, may trigger the onset of acute heart attack, asthma, anxiety. Cynical hostility has been recognized as major risk factor for coronary artery disease. While, suppressed anger or chronic anger in due course of time may cause depression, despondency, behavioral changes, anxiety, acidity and diarrhea.

However, anger is not always bad. Righteous or spiritual anger is a type of anger with good intentions. The classical example of righteous anger is when you become angry in a situation where you see a person doing something wrong to check that person.

Righteous anger can make people stand up for their rights and fight against what is wrong.

The story of a young Muslim woman who allegedly committed suicide after her son had been taken away from her, two weeks after being divorced through triple talaq was published earlier this year. Depression was reported to be the factor leading to this extreme step. (April 12, 2017. http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/apr/12/muslim-woman-divorced-through-triple-talaq-hangs-self-after-two-weeks-1592609.html).

Many such women in the country are living in a similar chronic stage of fear and apprehension of being discarded by their husbands. They are vulnerable to depression, anxiety, and various psychomotor disorders.

The historic verdict of the Supreme Court of India, abolishing the practice of triple talaq, will liberate women from such fears. Empowering them and giving women equal right in marriage will reduce the prevalence of acute and chronic mental disorders in them, most commonly depression.

Stressful events such as psychological trauma, etc. may also trigger development of depression.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is now the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. More than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015. A person with depression is typically depicted as sad, lonely, having no interest in activities that they earlier enjoyed, too much or too little sleep, low self-esteem, hopelessness. But, depression can also present as anger, irritability, addictions, eating too much or not eating enough, persistent aches and pains, memory problems, fatigue, or other behavioral changes.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this write up are entirely my own.