People still misinterpret what mental health or illness is due to the taboo around it. And this is the reason not many of us talk about it.
A World Health Organization report shows that India is leading as the most depressed country in the world, followed by China and USA.
Our country has the most number of cases of anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The study also states that at least 6.5 per cent of the Indian population suffers from some form of the serious mental disorder.
The increasing cases of mental problems in our country have been attributed to the lack of mental health workers like psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors.
According to the data from 2014, the ratio of mental health workers to the population is just 1 in 1,00,000 people. Overall, India has just about 5,000 psychiatrists and less than 2,000 clinical psychologists.
According to 2015-16 National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) survey, every sixth person in India needs mental health help of some sort. Of all the age groups, it is the adolescents who need most help with mental health issues.
Despite the fact that the Mental Healthcare Bill makes it mandatory for the state governments to provide affordable mental healthcare for all, the cost of treatment remains high in almost all the states. This makes it difficult for common man to avail the treatment.
Most of the times, talking about mental health is considered to be a taboo in our society. This has further prevented people from speaking up about their mental health issues.
It is high time that we started taking mental health seriously, else it would soon turn into an epidemic in India.