Abstract

Divorcees have different psychological impacts because of their different caste/ethnicity, gender and socio-cultural backgrounds. This study is about cultural psychological factors of divorce and its different psychological impacts on different cultural groups. This research is designed in the mixed method research to understand the “Mental Health Status of Divorcees from Different Cultural Backgrounds in Kathmandu”. The total number of participants was 48 and was selected by the purposive sampling lead by snowball methods. The qualitative data is analyzed through narrative techniques. Among the total population, it is found that the psychological issues are significantly higher among females than males. The prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression is higher in less educated females in comparison to highly educated females. Similarly, it has been found that differences in cultural practices including language, food, festivals, and family role lead to divorce. Data show that one-third of the informants have a severe level of anxiety and depression respectively after they had divorced but nearly fifty per cent are in mild to moderate level of psychological issues including anxiety, stress and depression. Regarding their cultural issues, even normal behaviors act like cumulative frequency also gradually hampers their relationship. The research also shows that the higher the education of female, the higher the rate of divorce case and lower psychosocial impact.

Keywords: Divorce; Psychology; Stress; Anxiety; Depression; Culture; Tradition and society