A voluntary organisation, Mariwala Health Initiative (MHI) and iCAll — a telephone-based counselling helpline started by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) are working for mental health care in the country. In the past one year, the study has found that most of the phone calls for support have been received from Madhya Pradesh. Moreover, State capital, Bhopal has also reported a sizeable number of people suffering from depression.
The MHI has taken up the task to provide mental health care to the patients throughout the country on the basis of 2012 WHO report, which states that India has one of the highest number of suicides in the world. “With the World Mental Health Day gone by last week we must take a pause to think about the state of mental health care in India. With its competitive economy, busy lifestyle, rising levels of unemployment and displacement, mental health concerns in India are on an alarming rise,” it adds.
The study remarks that there is little awareness of the debilitating impact of mental health concerns on our health and well-being at present. Moreover, the quality, access and availability of mental health services are extremely poor. The biggest challenge is the stigma attached to mental health concerns in India, which leads to high resistance in seeking help from mental health professionals, it stated.