‘Mindfields’ in the pandemic

Recently, the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga added a new portfolio to his ministry, and appointed a Minister for Loneliness in his Cabinet for the first time. The measure was taken after Japan reported a rise in the number of suicides, a 11-year high, in the wake of the pandemic. Suga drew special attention to how women were more at risk and entrusted the minister with putting forth a strategy that will tackle this issue. The UK had also appointed a minister to tackle loneliness and social isolation back in 2018. In India, the mental health crisis is turning into a burden that just cannot be ignored. In 2019, the WHO estimated that 7.5 per cent of Indians suffered from mental illnesses. The pandemic has exacerbated this by introducing uncertainty on account of employment prospects and issues on the personal front. The agency had forecast that by the end of 2020, one in every five Indians might suffer from issues pertaining to mental health. India also accounts for a staggering 36.6 per cent, when it comes to the number of suicides among women globally. Suicide deaths among men, stood at 24.3 per cent of the global numbers. It is essential to understand how under-equipped India is, when it comes to addressing this question. While celebrities like Deepika Padukone and more recently Virat Kohli have openly discussed their own struggles with depression and anxiety, a big chunk of society prefers keeping such struggles under wraps, deeming them unfit for medical intervention. That attitude is reflected in India’s mental health infrastructure too. For instance, the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 mandates that a national register of clinical psychologists, social workers and nurses is maintained by a central authority based on the particulars provided by the state where these staffers are employed. Such a registry is yet to see the light of the day. This was confirmed by Ashwini Choubey, junior minister for health and family welfare, while addressing the Parliament. He said data pertaining to government and private professionals working in the space of mental health was not maintained centrally. The Minister offered a ray of hope as he highlighted that the government is working on developing centres of excellence and amping up post graduate departments in mental health specialties, as part of the nation’s National Mental Health Programme (NMHP). Stakeholders in the healthcare space says these measures are a necessary augmentation to the presence of qualified professionals in the mental health space. This year, during the Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had also earmarked a sum of Rs 597 cr towards mental health - of which Rs 500 cr was set aside for NIMHANS, Bengaluru, Rs 57 cr was allocated for the LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health in Tezpur. The NMHP gets a meagre Rs 40 cr, which as per experts is inadequate for an initiative of this kind, as much of the focus is concentrated on district or metro level institutions while sidelining public health centres in villages and small towns. Specialists opine that removing entry barriers to being certified as mental health professionals could go a long way in increasing their pool. Currently, the Rehabilitation Council of India is only allowed to certify rehabilitation and clinical psychologists. And even candidates with a Masters in Psychology may not make the cut as major institutes look out for nothing less than an M Phil. The government must seek all the help it can muster, employing NGOs and community based associations active in the mental health space and work on a war footing. Increasing awareness through drives is one part of the job. The other is to help diminish the taboo around mental health issues. Familial help is also a must - in recognition, acceptance and adaptation to those living with such issues, and looking out for signs of deviation. It might be a tall order, but it’s certainly worth the effort, to ensure mental health needs are not a one-sided conversation.