MENTAL HEALTH IN INDIA: ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Mental health in India: Issues and concerns

Mental health crisis is a serious problem in India, as according to a report by the WHO, an estimated 56 million people suffering from depression and 38 million from anxiety disorders. Mental distress is a key reason why one student commits suicide every hour in the country.

However, the attitude of many Indians towards this problem isn’t helping.

According to The Live Love Laugh Foundation (TLLLF) and Kantar Public, a survey of 3,556 respondents from eight cities across India, an astonishing 47% could be categorised as being highly judgmental of people perceived as having a mental illness. Respondents belonging in this category were more likely to say that one should keep a safe distance from those who are depressed, or that talking to a mentally unhealthy person could affect the mental health of others. 26% were labelled as being afraid of the mentally ill. Interestingly, these two categories were mostly belonging to higher socio-economic backgrounds and were more educated compared to the 27% who were supportive of people with mental illnesses. These group were younger (aged between 18 and 24), with relatively lower educational levels, and came from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

A significant section of the respondent reported feeling fear, apathy, anger and even disgust at times despite most of them has shown sympathy for them.

The issue of the mental health in India remains significantly as people with mental illness mostly avoid discussing their mental concerns openly due to the fear of being tagged or judged. Moreover, some people believe that mental illness happens to the people who are ‘mentally weak’.

And for those who overcome the social taboo and do want to see a professional, there remains a problem too as in India, the population is over 1.3 billion whereas there are just 5,000 psychiatrists and less than 2,000 clinical psychologists. Mental health workforce in India include psychiatrists (0.0003%), nurses (0.00012%), psychologists (0.00007%) and social workers (0.00007%), which is hardly enough.