It was exciting to be invited to co-present a preconference workshop and paper at the 10th World Congress of Women’s Mental Health 2025, in Bengaluru, India with our partner Dr Ashlesha Bagadia from the PARC. This conference, held every two years in March to coincide with International Women’s Day, is the official congress of the International Association of Women’s Mental Health. With the theme ‘Inclusion and Integration Across the Lifespan,’ The president, Prabha Chandra promised ‘a unique opportunity to learn from each other about new initiatives, exchange diverse ideas, focus on policies, and debate and discuss issues that women face affecting their mental health.’ The conference was jointly sponsored by The PARC and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences.
A Unique Opportunity
The president’s promise was fulfilled in many ways and met the imperative that for change to occur, we must ‘do something different.’
What Was Different?
Participants came from a range of professions; psychiatry, psychology, social work, research, and those with lived experience. There was no sense of privilege or differentiation between attendees or that one group was superior to another.
Equally impressive was the age and experience range. The first plenary speaker, 90 year old Professor Norman Sartorius, former director of the WHO Division of Mental Health and former president of the World Psychiatric Association addressed the conference on the topic of Priorities for Mental health in 2025, teasing out the wider social challenges of commodification of social relations, isolation, changes in communication, demographic changes and in particular an aging population and increased divorce, horizontalization of communication and fragmentation of labour.
Attention was paid to early career professionals with a program specifically designed to promote engagement with senior experts and peers, gain mentorship opportunities and co-chair and contribute to the conference. The energy and enthusiasm of this group contributed to a sense of optimism for the future despite confronting and thought-provoking presentations about the challenges women face in mental health care.
Equally striking was the acceptance of focus of attention which ranged from detailed brain-based research to the broader political and social challenges women face in mental health care and the societies in which they reside. Particular attention was paid to the intersection of gender role stressors, socio-economic disadvantage, domestic violence, and mental health presentations in women which can be understood as a reflection of unequal gender relationships. Central to all presentations was the understanding that the wider social and political context was key to addressing the malaise presented by an individual in the form of a symptom.
Opportunities Outside the Lecture Theatre
Attention was also given to activities outside formal presentations. These included tours of NIHAMS and the new Perinatal Psychiatry Service, a quiet room devoid of technology and talking, a stall of traditional Indian toys and a bookshop curated to ‘inspire, comfort and expand the conversation around mental wellbeing.’ An unforgettable interview was held with authors, Anchal Malhotra and Dr Alok Sarin both who have written about Partition and the shadow it casts. Grief, loss, silence, and tenacity were reminiscent of our own stolen generations.
So Much More to Say
Words cannot accurately reflect the experience of learning, relationship, collaboration, and kindness I and those around me experienced. The organizers are to be congratulated.
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