Is Mental Healthcare Becoming A Reality?

Nearly 150 million Indians are in need of active intervention for mental illnesses, with the treatment gap as high as 70-92 per cent for different disorders. Bharathi Ghanashyam, Founder/Editor, Journalists Against TB, reviews what India has to offer in terms of commitment and legal frameworks

My father set out on a sunny Sunday morning for his daily round of golf, promising my mother he would be back in time to take her out for lunch. The next we heard was that he had suffered a cardiac arrest on the golf course and passed away before he could receive help.

Mum seemed to have taken the shock in her stride and coped well for a few years after that. Change crept in so insidiously it took us a while to realise she needed help. She would often wake up disoriented in the night and ask when dad would return home. She forgot numbers; even simple tasks were difficult to accomplish and she began abusing sleeping pills and pain killers. She was diagnosed with clinical depression and put on medication.

Now, years later, at 84, cured completely, she lives alone, keeps track of her own finances and is a feisty woman no one can take for granted. Mum’s story had a happy ending, probably owing to the comparatively progressive environment she lives in but there are millions of people suffering curable mental illnesses who are not so fortunate.

Mental illness is complex and not a ‘one size fits all’ problem. A simple Google search for types of mental disorders throws up 45 kinds. And yet, it seems a large section of society perceives mental illness as a simple, linear condition, commonly termed ‘madness’. People with mental illness are victims of stigma, judgmental attitudes and lack of support, and suffer needlessly, despite help being available.