Why mental health must become a national priority?

With the everincreasing cases of depression and anxiety making mental health a national priority can help India build healthier more productive and more resilient communities said experts on ThursdayAccording to the National Mental Health Survey 2016 around 132 per cent of Indians experience a diagnosable mental health condition in their lifetime while 106 per cent are currently affectedIn other words roughly one in 10 Indians lives with conditions such as depression anxiety or substance use disorders with depression being the most common particularly among womenWhile government initiatives like TeleMANAS are offering valuable firstresponse counselling in multiple languages these efforts alone cannot bridge the large gapSpeaking to IANS Dr Prabha Chandra Senior Professor of Psychiatry Past HOD Psychiatry and Dean of Behavioural Sciences NIMHANS Bangalore stated that mental health is inseparable from physical healthStudies have shown that people with mental illnesses have higher rates of noncommunicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension while those with chronic physical illnesses are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety Poor mental health also directly affects productivity education and social functioning whether in workplaces schools or communitiesldquoMental health must therefore be integrated into all spheres schools workplaces womenrsquos shelters police services and beyond Not everyone will access hospitals or clinics so we need to meet people where they arerdquo Chandra saidElevating mental health as a priority at both the central and state levels is an urgent needrdquo added Dr Shekhar Saxena Former Director Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse World Health Organization WHOIt will help address ldquohigh prevalence and burden of mental health conditions high suicide death rates and severe treatment gap with nearly 8090 per cent of people not receiving the care they needrdquo said the public mental health professionalHe noted that although the prevalence of mental health conditions in India is comparable to global levels there are some specific areas of concern in the countryldquoIndia has high rates of mental health challenges among women adolescents and children and an alarming rise in deaths by suicide among certain groupsrdquo said SaxenaChandra explained that the National Mental Health Programme NMHP now implemented as the District Mental Health Programme DMHP covers over 700 districts with teams including psychiatrists psychologists social workers and nursesldquoHowever given that 10 per cent of the population requires care one team per district is far from sufficient Training primary care physicians has helped in identifying common disorders but the treatment gap remains staggering 7075 per cent for severe conditions and even higher for common disordersrdquo she addedFurther urban areas face additional challenges of anonymity and access while rural districts rely heavily on primary health centres Initiatives like TeleMANAS offer valuable firstresponse counselling in multiple languages and the National Suicide Prevention Strategy acknowledges the social roots of suicideldquoBut government efforts alone cannot bridge the gap We urgently need more counsellors psychologists social workers and nurses along with models of tasksharingrdquo the experts said proposing a formal industry bodyA National Mental Health Alliance will help ldquoamplify visibility advocacy and collective problemsolving Chandra saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever