Emerging issues and needs to focus on mental health and well-being in India: a qualitative analysis

Mental health and wellbeing of the whole are the most neglected area of care in the country leading to the highest number of teenage suicide rates. Mental illness is still considered as an illness not to be treated, resulting India becoming the most depressed country in the world, followed by China and USA as per the latest World Health Organization report. At present, 150 million Indians are suffering from mental illness and desperately in need of immediate care assessment for their mental health condition. However, 70-92% of the mental ill populations failed to receive any medical assessments, due to the minimal availability of the mental healthcare workers like psychologists and psychiatrists, which is at the ratio of 1:100,000. It would not be an exaggeration to state that India becomes the hub for global mental health epidemic. However, only 0.06 per cent of India’s health budget is devoted to mental health treatment, in which the available data suggests that the state of spending the sanctioned budget in this regard is abysmal. Lack of awareness, ignorance, social stigma, and discriminations becomes the underlying factors for worsening the individual mental health conditions. Thus, the need of the hour is the immediate mental healthcare intervention, awareness about the issue, availability of the professional help and forming the adequate policies on mental health assessment. It is through timely assessment intervention a positive outcome that is meaningful for the people and for many sectors of the society can be delivered.