Skip to main content

Table 4 Quotes from participants describing symptoms of depression, generalised anxiety and tension

From: Understanding psychological distress among mothers in rural Nepal: a qualitative grounded theory exploration

Symptoms

Supportive quotes from participants

Participant’s GHQ-12 score

Participant’s caste

ICD-10 symptoms of depression

   

Persistent sadness

“I felt sad and my heart was also not stable.”

n/a

Yadav

 

“When I became sad I felt weak and kept thinking about these things.”

9

Mandal

Fatigue or low energy

“I was so weak, didn’t feel like doing anything.”

7

Muslim

 

“I was too weak to carry a bucket full of water, so I brought half a bucket of water to do some housework.”

7

Muslim

Disturbed sleep (also GAD)

“Even now I can’t sleep if I get worried.”

8

Dalit

 

“I was feeling sleepy all the time because of my worry.”

8

Muslim

Poor concentration or indecisiveness (also GAD)

“I couldn’t understand the work because of tensions.”

7

Muslim

Poor or increased appetite

“I lost my appetite.”

11

Dalit

 

“I have so much tension. I have become weak because I don’t eat properly.”

5

Dalit

Suicidal thoughts or acts

“I feel tense when someone blames me for not having a son; then I wish to die with the baby.”

8

Dalit

 

“I have lots of tension because of this; sometimes I feel like consuming poison because I can’t see a way out.”

5

Mandal

Agitation or slowing of movements

“I got very angry if someone said anything to me.”

7

Muslim

 

“I was very irritable so which made me angry quickly, even when they showed sympathy I shouted a lot.”

7

Muslim

ICD-10 symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder

  

Autonomic symptom

“I felt giddy, my palpitation increased.”

7

Muslim

Symptoms concerning chest and abdomen

“Sometimes I had back pain; sometimes chest pain, sometimes loin pain and sometimes tummy pain.”

8

Dalit

Symptoms concerning brain and mind

“I was lost and felt dizzy”

8

Dalit

 

“I thought I might die.”

6

Mandal

General symptoms

“I have pins and needles (jhujhuni in Maithili; jhamjhamaaunu in Nepali), weakness and fear.”

10

Muslim

Symptoms of tension

“I had severe headache; didn’t feel like doing anything

7

Muslim

 

“I had headache because of tension… I had body ache too.”

5

Dalit

Non-specific symptoms

“I get scared when someone speaks loudly.”

10

Muslim

 

“I have so much tension so can’t remember a lot of things.”

7

Muslim

Symptoms related to tension only

   

Disorientation

“I was wandering around here and there and got lost a few times.”

5

Sudi/Teli

Emotional pain

“One pain is for not having a son.”

8

Dalit

 

“People keep blaming me for not having a son; that hurts me very much.”

8

Dalit

Self-neglect

“They were asking me why I looked tense and didn’t take care myself.”

5

Sudi/Teli

Fear for the future

“I was so apprehensive about my children!”

7

Muslim

 

“I was afraid if anything happened to me and my husband because of this who would look after my two children.”

5

Sudi/Teli

Symptoms concerning the heart

“When it starts my whole body convulses and my heart is also not stable at that time.”

n/a

Dalit

  1. Notes: ‘n/a’ indicates FGD participants who did not complete the GHQ-12; GAD generalised anxiety disorder.