How is the Mental Health Scenario in India?

Today is World Mental Health Day. It is a day dedicated to spreading awareness regarding mental health, and to removing the stigma surrounding mental illness. I thought I would pen down what I feel about the mental health system in India. 

It is probably needless to say that we really don't have a world-class healthcare system in the country. Although the Mental Healthcare Act was passed in 2017 which aimed to bring sweeping reforms, the implementation of it had been rather slow. This can be attributed to a number of factors- the incompetent bureaucracy, the highly skewed ratio of mental health professionals to those requiring mental health care, and the lack of understanding regarding mental health among the common people. 

The skewed ratio of mental health professionals to people seeking services is a serious problem. There are around 3500 psychiatrists out of 10000 required, 1000 licensed clinical psychologists out of 20,000 required, 900 psychiatric social workers out of 35,000 required, and 1500 psychiatric nurses out of 30,000 required. 

The huge gulf in numbers can be attributed to the low desirability of the mental health fields across the country. Medical courses don't put enough emphasis on psychiatry, and specialised training in psychiatry. And since the field does not pay as much as compared to other medical fields, many psychiatrists migrate to the West for greener pastures. Clinical psychology training is very long and intense, encompassing almost 7-8 years. Understandably not many want to get into the field due to this factor. Also, there is a stigma surrounding the mental health professions in general.

The stigma surrounding mental illness can only be broken by the efforts of mental health professionals and informed citizens. With such a low number of professionals, the existing stigmas keep perpetuating. The blatantly wrong portrayal of mental illness in movies and media does not help the cause either. 

We should all strive towards making a better mental healthcare system. We should petition the authorities to properly implement MHA 2017. We must strive to get educated ourselves and educate others in our social groups. Only when we work collectively, we will be able to break the chain of ignorance.