Why is it that our psychological well being is not given just as much as importance as our physical health?
There are 1.28 billion people is India and it is estimated that 56 million Indians suffer from depression and 38 million people suffer from anxiety disorders according to a report by the world health organisation. The government has estimated that about 1 in every 5 people require psychological psychatric counselling.
And nearly half or more of these people go about living their life without treatment. And for those who want to under go treatment there are only 5000 psychiatrists and less than 2000 clinical psychologists catering to a population of 1.28 billion and counting.
Usually in India people who are suffering from a mental illness are not even aware about what they are going through or if they are aware they are do not openly discuss their mental health problems due to the fear of being judged,labelled or critised.
When it comes to mental health there is a lot of stigma in the country many people also believe that there isn’t such a thing due to lack of awareness. Over 100,000 people commit sucide in India every year the leading cause being mental illness.