ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between gender and mental health and the importance of this relationship for meeting Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3). It argues that incorporating a gender approach into the promotion of mental health and wellbeing is essential in the attainment of SDG3, particularly in lower and middle-income countries (LMIC). The chapter focuses on what is known about gender and mental health issues in LMICs, in terms of challenges and opportunities to address them. It highlights the main gender-related stressors that particularly affect women’s mental health. Maternal health concerns dominate most of the literature on women’s mental health, especially disorders during the perinatal period. Gender plays an important role in how women respond to perinatal stressors in both high-income countries and LMICs. Socioeconomic status, including education, employment, and income, has been widely shown to affect mental health, especially that of women.
