Urban
living is on a continuous rise, fast-paced life, competitive environment and
stressful lifestyle have given rise to many mental health disorders in one way
or the other. There are thousands other reasons for the same, but the recent
shift of lifestyle trends has become one of the leading causes of the mental
health illnesses.
Every
year, October 10 is observed as World Mental Health day. This year WHO’s theme for the day is
"Dignity in mental health". WHO is raising awareness worldwide of
what can be done to ensure a dignified and healthy life for people suffering
from mental illness.
Mental health disorders are on high not just in India
but in many parts of the globe. Talking specifically of India, experts say that
it is set to become the suicide capital of the world with 90 percent of the
deaths caused due to one or the other depressive symptom, which is the biggest
form of mental disorder. Patients, especially the youth, rely heavily on
anti-depression pills and different physical and psychological therapies.
People having mental illness also suffer a lot from strong social stigma. This is basically because
society has made stereotyped views about such disorders and they, largely
thinks people suffering from mental illness are not normal human beings and
they can affect their lives as well. This discrimination at every step further
worsens the health of patient or delays their recovery.
WHO
fact sheet says that for every lakh people in India, the average suicide rate is 10.9. Moreover, there is just one psychiatrist for
every four lakh Indians. Depression is the most prevalent form of mental
illness, estimated to exist in
3 of every 100 in urban areas like Mumbai and out of this, 1 in 3 is severely
neurotic. Alzheimer’s disease was the most common of severe disorders (54%) followed by vascular dementia
(39%). According to the government's estimates about 1 in 5 people in the
country need counselling, either psychological or psychiatric.
There
are certain ways by which we can promote mental health that includes-
- Early childhood interventions (e.g. home visits for pregnant women, pre-school psycho-social activities, combined nutritional and psycho-social help for disadvantaged populations)
- Support to children (Skill building programmes, child and youth development programmes)
- Socio-economic empowerment of women (Improving access to education and microcredit schemes
- Social support for elderly populations (Befriending initiatives, community and day centres for the aged)
- Programmes targeted at vulnerable groups, including minorities, indigenous people, migrants and people affected by conflicts and disasters
- Mental health promotional activities in schools (Programmes supporting ecological changes in schools and child-friendly schools)
- Violence prevention programmes (By reducing availability of alcohol and access to arms)
- Community development programmes
- Poverty reduction and social protection for the poor
- Anti-discrimination laws and campaigns and promotion of the rights, opportunities and care of individuals with mental disorders.
In
2013, the World Health Assembly approved a "Comprehensive Mental Health
Action Plan for 2013-2020". The Plan is a commitment by all WHO’s Member
States to take specific actions to improve mental health and to contribute to
the attainment of a set of global targets.
There
are ways to deal with mental problems. Apart from the social structure support
and other measures discussed above, there is a quick need of mental health
policy to address the issue as soon as possible.
Image source:
(http://www.spectrumscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/a.jpg)
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