ISSN–2277- 8721 EIIRJ ELECTRONIC INTERNATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH JOURNAL Volume–XI, Issue– III May – June 2022 SJIF Impact Factor: 8.095 Peer Reviewed Referred Journal 58 Original Research Article Abstracts Mental health is among important public health issues as it is a major contributor (14%) to the global burden of diseases worldwide. Widows are at higher risk of mental health problems due to gender disadvantaged factors such as lack of family support, financial dependence, single parenting and stereotypes related to remarriage. The present study aims to examine the level of psychological distress of war widows. This study includes 51 war widows between the age range of 40-80 years presently residing in Punjab. Psychological distress was assessed by administering Dass-21 (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). Descriptive analysis was used and t test was applied to study the significant mean difference related to psychological distress and remarriage. Further, the Focus Group Discussions were conducted to understand and identify the reasons of high psychological distress present amongst the respondents. It was found that majority of the respondents have mild to moderate psychological distress and widows who were re married are less stressful as compared to who are not re- married. Key Words: Mental Health, Psychological Distress, Remarriage, War Widows. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s): This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial Use Provided the Original Author and Source Are Credited. Introduction Owing to the strategic location of India and neighbouring countries (Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri-Lanka), India has to face many security problems and had to fight wars in 1947 (at the times of partition), 1962 (Indo-China war), 1965 (Indo-Pak war), 1971 (Indo-Pak war and birth of Bangladesh) and 1999 (Kargil War) to protect its borders. It is estimated that no other country has as many war widows as India. Our brave hearts have bravely marched into battle with little care for their lives. Many returned with injuries that they shall bear proudly as medallions of their service, and many more laid down their lives in the service of our nation. However, till the turn of the 20th century, little was known and done about the emotional effects of war on soldiers’ families. It is understandable, that the outbreak of war brings with it a paralyzing fear of losing their loved one fighting on the border in the hearts of the families sitting and praying for him. Whenever a family member is deployed in a war zone, everyone is affected emotionally, and sometimes the emotional distress manifests into Physiological repercussions as well. Parents, spouses, and children of deployed service members are the most PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG WAR WIDOWS: A STUDY OF PUNJAB Dr. Naina Sharma Dr. Ritu Lehal Assistant Professor Director Panjabi University, Patiala Women’s Studies Centre, Punjabi University, Email Id: naina_uppal@hotmail.com Patiala