The day before, a person with an intellectually challenged child reported that it was difficult to make disability certificate as there was no Psychiatrist in the Government Hospital. I confirmed from the available sources who confirmed that there was acute shortage of Psychiatrists in Government Hospitals. The shortage of Psychiatrists is acute throughout India with an availability of 0.75 per 100000 populations as against at least 3 prescribed by WHO. The shortage is even more critical in case of Clinical Psychologists at just 0.07 and Psychiatric Social Workers 0.06 per one lakh population.

After Covid19 era, mental health has moved from the margins of public discourse to the mainstream. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 marked a significant policy milestone but much is yet to be done to improve infrastructure at the ground and make it accessible to people in remote areas. Having spent several years working in the social development and rehabilitation sector, I have observed that mental health challenges rarely exist in isolation. They intersect with poverty, disability, unemployment, family stress, educational pressures, and social exclusion. Unfortunately, our mental health system often responds to these complex realities through a narrow clinical lens.

The attitude to deny mental illness is the first and foremost concern which drives the patients and their families to quacks, faith healers, places of worship and religious importance to alleviate the divine curse. This takes years aggravating the problem further multifold. An engineering student at a private University in Chandigarh was brought back home and was taken to a religious place for the holy water rather than seeking an advice from a Psychiatrist. The spiritual healing did not bring any respite to the student who was suffering from acute manic depression and melancholia resulting into suicidal tendencies. He was only brought to a Psychiatrist when he tried to jump in Bhakhra dam at Nangal after a gap of few months. It is not the only case of its kind but common scene all around.

Behind every person undergoing long-term treatment, there is often a parent, spouse, sibling, or child who also suffers along providing continuous support. The caregivers often devote years, sometimes decades, to ensuring treatment adherence and emotional stability. Yet there is no support system available to the families and caregivers. I know some of the patients’ families who have not only exhausted their savings on treatment but silently born emotional strain for years compromising the educational or professional aspirations of the children. It is equally important to ensure opportunities for rehabilitation, skill development, employment, social inclusion, and independent living of the recovering patients.

Educational institutions and students today face unprecedented academic, social, and digital pressures. While National Educational Policy 2020 mandates to appoint Social work Professionals as Counsellors, many schools fail to acknowledge the importance of mental well-being and need of professional counselling services there in. They simply designate a teacher as Counsellor to fulfil the statutory requirements. There is an urgent need of safe and congenial spaces in the society where people can discuss stress, anxiety, relationships, and emotional challenges without fear of being labeled. Building such environments may prove more effective in preventing mental health crises than any number of awareness slogans.

The challenge before India is not the lack of policy intent but its’ implementation, resource allocation, and sustained commitment. Mental health cannot remain confined to the Psychiatric Wards of the Medical Colleges and big Hospitals; it must become an integral part of primary healthcare, education, workplace policies, and community development programmes.The patients need accessible and affordable services, the families need financial and social support, the schools need to appoint counsellors, the communities need rehabilitation programmes, and the employers need inclusive workplace policies. The test of a mental health system is - how effectively people receive help when they need it.

India stands at a crucial moment in its mental health journey through legislation, advocacy, and growing public engagement. What is required now is the collective will to ensure that these efforts translate into meaningful change in the lives of patients and their families.A compassionate society must ensure that mental illness is not stigmatized; mental patients are not discriminated and not isolated and no one remains unsupported and without qualified treatment.  / DAILY WORLD /

( The writer is a Social Scientist & Human Relations Practitioner, Utthan Institute of Development & Studies, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. Views are strictly his personal.)