Union Budget 2024 | Mental health discourse must expand, need to increase psychiatrists' numbers: Economic Survey

New Delhi: There is a need to bring about a massive shift in the way we talk about mental health in the community and advocate an increase in the number of psychiatrists and mental health interventions in schools, the economic survey 2023-2024 has said.

The survey tabled in the Parliament on Monday acknowledged that mental health is a less visible yet an impactful driver of individual and national development.

There remain certain gaps in the existing programmes which need to be addressed to maximise their effectiveness, it said. For instance, doubling the efforts to increase the number of psychiatrists, from 0.75 psychiatrists per lakh population in 2021 to the WHO norm of 3 per lakh population (Garg, Kumar and Chandra 2019), the report pointed out.

The report stressed developing comprehensive guidelines for the excellence centres' services alongside mental healthcare professionals.

The report called for nurturing peer support networks, self-help groups, and community-based rehabilitation programmes to destigmatise mental disorders and develop a sense of belongingness in their victims.

The report suggested developing an age-appropriate mental health curriculum for teachers and students and encouraging early intervention and positive language.

"However, the fundamental issue of the lack of awareness about mental health and the stigma surrounding it can render any sincerely crafted programme unfeasible. Hence, there is a need to bring about a paradigm shift and utilise a bottom-up, whole-of-community approach in addressing the topic of mental health," it said.

The report called for breaking the stigma around mental health by stopping being in denial about its existence.

Denial is an outcome of fear about social attitudes and social acceptance after one "comes out" with mental health issues, it said.

"Arguably, mental health issues drag down productivity more widely in the ecosystem than individuals' physical health issues," the report said, emphasising that paying attention to mental health issues in society is both, a health and an economic imperative.

At an aggregate economic level, mental health disorders are associated with significant productivity losses due to absenteeism, decreased productivity, disability, and increased healthcare costs, it said.

There is also evidence of poverty affecting the risk of mental health via stressful living conditions, financial instability, and a lack of opportunities for upward mobility, which contribute to heightened psychological distress, the report said.

In India, NCERT's Mental Health and Well-being of School Students Survey showed an increasing prevalence of poor mental health among adolescents, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 11 per cent of students reporting feeling anxious, 14 per cent as feeling extreme emotion, and 43 per cent experiencing mood swings.

The increase in mental health issues in children and adolescents is often linked to the overuse of the internet and specifically, social media.

Unrestrained and unsupervised use of the internet by children can culminate into a range of problems, from the more prevalent obsessive consumption of social media or "doom scrolling" to severe ones such as cyberbullying.

In the Indian context, the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2015-16 showed that 10.6 per cent of adults suffered from mental disorders, while the treatment gap for mental disorders ranged between 70 and 92 per cent.

According to the survey, the prevalence of mental morbidity was higher in urban metro regions (13.5 per cent) as compared to rural areas (6.9 per cent) and urban non-metro areas (4.3 per cent). The second and more expansive NMHS is currently in progress.

According to Dhyani, et al (2022), individuals aged 25-44 years are the most affected by mental illnesses.

The report said that the government is implementing national policies such as the National Mental Health Policy (2014), the National Youth Policy (2014) and the National Education Policy (2020), with a focus on mental health across the entire care continuum, particularly concerning children and adolescents.

Twenty-two mental disorders are covered under the Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY health insurance.

Union Budget 2024 | Making a record for any Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting her 7th Union Budget on July 23, 2024 under the Modi 3.0 government. While inflation has burnt a hole in the pockets of 'aam janata', will this Budget spell relief for Indians? Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analysis only on Deccan Herald. Also follow us on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.