Perception and Expression of Stress: A Study on Stress, Mental Health and Defense Style Mostly Used by Commercial Sex Workers of Suiri, West Bengal

The aim of the study is to explore the perception of stress, its effect on their mental health and the defense mechanisms employed to deal with it, of females, aged 18 to 40 years who have been working as commercial sex workers for a period of no less than two years. They are compared with women, aged 18 to 40 years who have been married for a period of at least two years with no apparent history of separation or divorce. Their perception of stress, mental health and the defense mechanism is assessed. The results indicated that stress along with anxiety, depression and social dysfunction is significantly higher in commercial sex workers. The defense mechanisms mostly employed by commercial sex workers were acting out, devaluation, autistic thinking, splitting and humor in contrast to the comparative group.