A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that 7.5 per cent of the Indian Urban population suffers from some form of mental disorder. Mental illnesses constitute one-sixth of all health-related disorders and India accounted for nearly 15% of the global mental, neurological and substance abuse disorder burden. The treatment gap, which is defined as the prevalence of mental illnesses and the proportion of patients that get treatment, is over 70 per cent. WHO also predicts that by 2020 end, roughly 20 per cent of India will suffer from mental illnesses! And to cater to this demographic, we have less than 4,000 mental health professionals.
That’s a lot because we are taking about 1.3 billion population here! Mental problems more in 30–49 age group or over 60; low income, job insecurities, fragile lifestyles linked to occurrence of mental disorders. Urban population are anyways taking a hit always despite attending so many seminars, life coaching — “guru” who heals maybe…!!
As the novel coronavirus spreads across the world, both the fallout from the covid-19 pandemic and the best safeguards we have against it, could make that number a lot bigger. Just as we are moving rapidly to safeguard our physical health, we must act with equal urgency to preserve our mental health and make as much as of our psychiatric care accessible. Read full story at SCIKEY
