“The Son Belongs to His Mother”: South Asian Daughters-in-Law and the Mental Health Toll of Family Hierarchy

• By: Vishwani Sahai-Siddiqui, MD The Cognitive Quill
• April 23rd, 2025
• cultural stigma, culture, emotional abuse, family, family hierarchy, immigrant, immigrant mental health, intergenerational trauma, mental health, South Asian, south asian mental health, south asian women
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In many South Asian families, a daughter-in-law doesn’t simply marry a husband—she marries into a hierarchy. Her entry into the household often marks a shift in family dynamics, especially where a deep, enmeshed mother-son bond is already in place. What may appear on the surface as generational...