- The increasing importance being accorded to address mental health aspects in a holistic, sympathetic, and pragmatic manner amply demonstrates hitherto considered taboo subject is finally gaining desired attention. As you are aware, what used to be sneered and jeered at earlier for even getting mentioned in a hush-hush tone about anything remotely related to mental illness used to evoke widespread indignation and condemnation. The issue no longer appears to be consigned to secrecy anymore as more and more famous celebrities, renowned personalities, celebrated sportspersons, successful businessmen/entrepreneurs, or for that matter, an individual with admirable achievements to boot are coming out in the open to reveal another side of their hidden lives.
PC: Karen Pallarito
- The trend has caught up big time which is immensely helping people perplexed about their illnesses for fear of social stigma and ostracization. Now they won’t mind revealing troubles bogging them any longer. The pent-up feelings, frustrations, pressures, and accumulations of negative thought processes over a period are bound to create havoc on the sensitive psychological facet. It’s a matter of time before coming out into the forefront with accompanying complications. The resultant outcome is rendering the very existence not only miserable for the self but also the family’s as well. One of the biggest helps to have emerged on the matter is famed personalities coming out with their mental health challenges.
- This has proved that mental health issues afflict everyone irrespective of status, caste, creed, or gender. The outcome is a welcome change in people’s perception getting altered for good about mental illnesses bordering on humane understanding. Against this backdrop, the ongoing Olympics has thrown the two biggest superstars underperforming and subsequently coming out in the open about their mental health struggles as the reason. And they have received widespread support and sympathy touching a chord with many in this pandemic-scarred world, including India.
PC: L.A. McKeown
- Note that Twitter data between January 2020 and June 2021 shows a 150% jump in conversations about mental health in India too, as compared to the previous 18 months. Sadly, our inadequate mental health infrastructure is simply not prepared to extend a helping hand to confront this tragedy. The Mental Healthcare Act 2017 mentions the right things from decriminalizing suicide attempts to stipulating that insurers will provide for the treatment of mental illness and protecting persons with mental illness from solitary confinement. As can be seen, chasms lie between law and reality.
- Right from underused funds, or new helplines set up by states over the last year, a big challenge staring at us is the small number of mental health professionals to address the matter. It is depressing to note how far we lag in addressing this crucial aspect as WHO estimates India has just 0.3 psychiatrists, 0.07 psychologists, and 0.07 social works per 1 lakh people. The pandemic has brought to the fore the need for professional help from students without schools to doctors tied to Covid duty without break, to thousands having lost near and dear ones, to those deprived of livelihood. This situation must be addressed forthwith.
