Around 10 per cent of the general population needs psychological help. The commonest mental illness in the world is depression. Unfortunately, people do not know that they are suffering from depression. Only when it starts affecting their work and personal life, do they realise the seriousness of it.

“Depression is of two types; reactive and endogenous. Reactive depression is primarily triggered by an external reason like a personal loss or a setback etc. Endogenous is because of a person’s genetic makeup. Out of the two, reactive depression is on the rise,” said Dr Nagaraj, director, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore.

Though depression is treatable through counselling, therapy and medication, people are not aware that they could be suffering from it. There’s also a lot of resistance to seek professional help for the mental illness because of the stigma.

The reasons for depression could be many. “Breakdown of social support system; sense of isolation; high stress level; lack of coping abilities and life skills etc. Depression is common among adults, adolescents and children.

Inappropriate parenting is another reason of rising incidents of depression among children,” he said.  “Most children are not prepared to accept a ‘no’ for anything; they lack coping abilities and are unprepared to face failure. The common reason for suicide is depression. Worldwide around 8,77,000 people commit suicide annually due to depression,” said Dr Nagaraj.

“Depression is very common among people today but they don’t recognise it. Though the mindset towards mental health is changing now, people still are wary of seeking professional help because of the stigma. Most people are unaware that mental health is treatable. If treated at an early stage, people suffering from mental illness can effectively contribute to society,” said counsellor and psychologist Ali Khwaja.

What is of concern is the sale of off-the-counter anti-depressants in cities. “These are prescription drugs but unfortunately they are sold without one. Many times people don’t require anti-depressants. They can get over their depression through effective counselling but again awareness on the importance of counselling is not that high in India,” said Dr Nagaraj.

After depression, schizophrenia is the next major mental illness afflicting people.

“This too is treatable provided people seek psychiatric help at the onset of the illness,” he added.