‘80% Indians with mental health issues don’t seek treatment’
NEW DELHI: Eighty percent of Indians with mental health issues do not seek treatment, doctors have said and cited lack of awareness, neglect and stigma as the reasons for this.
They stressed that awareness about physical as well as mental health should be an integral part of the education system to understand the broad spectrum of psychological issues and seek help in time.
There is a lack of awareness and understanding among people about mental health issues. So the condition often goes undiagnosed, Dr Nand Kumar, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at AIIMS said.
“Unless one realises that he or she is unwell or sick, how would they seek treatment? Often there is a huge gap between the time when symptoms are identified and treatment is initiated, thus aggravating the complexities,” he said.
Mental health problems have a broad spectrum, ranging from insomnia, mild anxiety, and depression to severe mood disorders, obsession and psychosis, making it difficult for the patient to realise the exact problem or even identify if there is any, Dr Kumar stated.
“Youths for a large chunk of people with mental health problems that often get wrongly identified as adolescent issues and are neglected,” he said.
Moreover, the fear of being labelled as mentally ill and the resultant discrimination often dissuade people from seeking treatment.
The number of psychiatrists has increased from 6,000 in 2016 to 9,000 in 2023. Simultaneously the number of psychologists has also increased. But the magnitude of mental health problems has also increased, Dr Kumar said.
As per NCRB data, the number of suicides has spiked from around 1.3 lakh in 2016 to 1.64 lakh in 2021, he said.
Mental health issues, particularly professional burnout, are not uncommon among doctors. According to a recent study, approximately 80 per cent of medical professionals in big hospitals have varying degrees of burnout, including depression, which may also lead to suicide in some cases.
