DIALECTICAL ANALYSIS OF REAL-IDEAL MARRIAGE, AND ITS IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

The thesis examines dialectical analysis of real-ideal marriage and its impact on mental health of people who have been to marriage. The experience of the married couples have been divided in the realms of idealism generated by individualism and mate interaction with social and electronic media where he/she explores the concept through reality shows and social media. These imaginary images create an unrealistic approach and expectations from marriage while in contrast, an individual in the institution of marriage persuaded by the larger interests of family, kin, class and caste relations with partner. In realism, the institution of marriage is collection of social, political and economic web of forces that try to entangle the couple to live up to the expectations, interests of family and norms of the society. When an individual compares his/her personal experience in the institution of marriage with visuals, and novelty on social media, in educational intuitions and freedom of choice of interaction with opposite gender on the campus, he/she feels her/himself disowned and bereaved from life which has been imagined. This bereavement from imaginations and expectation cause dilemma, confusion and later turn into development of minor symptoms of depression and mental illness among individuals in marriage. The dissatisfaction of an individual in marriage pushes especially men into extramarital relations and women into abusive relations, self-degradation and in severe cases to divorce or dissolution of marriage contract. Findings are analyzed through discrepancy theory and data collected through twenty-five face-to-face in-depth interviews, two focus group discussion and informal discussions with married, and divorced male and female students from four major ethnic groups like Baloch, Pakhtun, Punjab, and Sindh at Quaid-i-Azam university Islamabad.