The Importance of Mental Health in India

Gone are the days where mental health was considered by many in India to be a terrible boon to talk about. With the alarming amount of cases that happen on a daily basis, people have finally started to open their eyes for the dangers that mental health brings to modern society.The more awareness about how fragile a person's mental health is, the better society starts to behave and act around those specific individuals who are afraid to speak up.

It has gone mainstream to the point where national celebrities have come out to speak on the impact their mental health has put them through and what they have done to get out of their mess, which has begun to inspire many other individuals who are also silently suffering from mental health and its preliminaries such as anxiety, overwhelming stress and even trauma.

Unfortunately, India may yet again be on the verge of another mental health crisis, and according to the World Health Organization, Indians who are suffering from various forms of mental health issues and conditions total up to 15% of the adult population in the country. This is mostly due to the stressful environments they all have been in for an extended period of time.

WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH?

Mental Health refers to the emotional, psychological, and social-well being of a person. This allows us to operate how we normally do, and provides us with the required emotions for thinking whatever we want, feeling whatever we want to feel as well as managing all the choices and options provided by the mind itself for operating the body.

Mental health wears away over time, just like with physical health, so it is required to have a lot of attention which can be quite exhausting. It is also very easy to have bad mental health, through something as simple as a disruption in the day, or a rather unsatisfying relationship and an even worse breakup to even extremely dangerous and life-threatening conditions such as suicide or overdosing through the usage of drugs.

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WHY ARE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES RISING IN INDIA?

HIGHLY STRESSFUL WORK ENVIRONMENT

An office area where you are subject to a lot of work that consistently overwhelms you is already way too much to handle for a normal person, but to go through roads that are clogged almost the entire day to feeling if this particular job that you have chosen is really what you are after to even feeling like you are losing yourself through lonesomeness and self-isolation are all very integral parts of why so many Indian adults feel depressed and always have very little enthusiasm and energy left. To understand how stress affects mental well-being, you can also read our Hindi blog on तनाव के लक्षण और समाधान.

ACADEMIC PRESSURE

For much younger people, especially students who are preparing to appear for large exams and tests such as JEE, NEET, USPC or even the infamous board exams are all filled with an intense amount of fear, panic, anxiety, depression and even hysteria in very rare cases. It also does not help that many individuals who are under a lot of pressure that was warranty given to them by their own parents and guardians, telling them to only aim for the first place, rather helping them overcome their fear of failing and simply allow them to participate properly.

WORKPLACE BURNOUT

Every time someone starts to feel overwhelmed, it causes their minds to work overtime, creating a lot of panic and stress building up as they continue working past what they are capable of. WIth India having one of the longest workplace timings in the world, a lot of different people have started to opt for a much more volatile hustle culture, which essentially robs them of their time while also sacrificing their satisfaction of having a job which they actually want to work on, leaving them both confused as well as burned out.

EXPOSURE TO SOCIAL MEDIA

A lot of young adults have complete access to the internet and social media sites, which is a very big issue. People who are chronically online for a majority of the day are almost always subject to toxicity and constant filters that demean and belittle them every time while also beating down on themselves for taking it without responding. This has made the lives and minds of those inflicted by these downright horrible traits in social media almost unbearable.

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON SYMPTOMS THAT ARE RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH?

• A person suffering from mental health will most of the time feel very low on energy and show no enthusiasm in doing what they originally liked to do earlier on.
• Someone who is going through a lot of mental health issues will most likely find it very difficult to focus on anything for a good amount of time or even have the mind-set to correctly and accurately make decisions for themselves.
• There are also a lot of mood swings that will occur during a bout of poor mental health for an affected person. This can create quite a bit of uncertainty within an individual suffering from the same symptoms as well.
• These individuals who are suffering from varying types of mental health will also slowly find themselves to feel very withdrawn from both family and friends, which can cause a huge rift between the affected person and their close ones.
• They are also likely to suffer from a lot of panic attacks, which in rare cases have led to frequent heart attacks.

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WHAT IS THE REASON FOR OFFICE BURNOUTS IN INDIA?

Individuals who have been experiencing an alarming amount of office burnouts recently are stated to have a lot of mental fog that clouds their vision and thoughts whenever they are working, they are also capable of feeling a lot of emotional detachment to their surroundings and are under immense amounts of unwarranted stress over their time working for a particular company.

• A feeling of overwhelming tiredness starts to overcome you as you continue to work, making it increasingly difficult to both focus and function at the same time.
• That spark in which you first started with is now gone, leaving you with a very emotionless drive that feels both weak and empty to accomplish on the daily.
• You also become much more hostile and angry towards your coworkers as well as your clients who will only harbour bad views towards you after the incident happens.
• You will start to notice how much you actually hate waking up and getting ready for a job you fear and dread getting every single money, and how you start to worship the weekends for them to arrive as soon as possible.
• The longer the hours are, the more work you are able to accomplish, yet you are still unable to find any of that passion you once had starting the job, and thus, makes the job itself very accomplishing and unproductive all of the time.

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WHERE ARE THE BEST PLACES TO SEEK MENTAL HEALTH IN INDIA?

A PSYCHIATRIST NEAR YOU

These medically-liscenced professionals are capable of accurately and perfectly giving you the diagnosis you require and will provide the correct medication for severe anxiety, depression, PTSD, and even bipolar disorder. you can easily find great psychiatrists near you by a simple google search of the same.

THERAPIST OR PSYCHOLOGIST

Unlike Psychiatrists, these mental health practitioners are capable of giving sound advice to those who are unable to get the required medicines for one reason or the other. They excel in finding out potential mental health disorders through direct communication and changing thought patterns within the patients themselves.

AN ONLINE PLATFORM FOR COUNSELLING

This is a rather ingenious way for individuals with very poor mental health who are still very conscious of their condition but would like to stay as anonymous as possible yet still want some advice on how to overcome their current condition. A great place to start would be BetterHelp.com

SEVERAL GOVERNMENT HEALTH SERVICES

The government has also started to pour more attention and devotion to the mental health crisis India is facing, with the addition of the National Mental Health Programme (NMP) and the Ayushman Bharat, both of which are free and subsidized by the government to provide for the affected youths and adults.

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WHAT ARE THE COSTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELLING IN INDIA?

• A Private Therapy session of just one session, which will usually be between 45 minutes to an hour, would be in the range of Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,500, depending on what city and therapist you have selected.
• An entire private online therapy package will cost between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 6,000 for a total of 4-6 sessions.
• Consultation of a psychiatrist would cost you anywhere between Rs. 800 to at most Rs. 2,000 per visit.
• Also, if you want to have some form of medication alongside your therapy sessions, it would cost you anywhere between Rs. 300 to Rs. 1,000 a month, depending on the severity of the issues at hand.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS THAT AFFECT CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS IN INDIA?

• Children who are going through a very tough time and are suffering from mental health will almost regularly have their grades and studies go down drastically without any warning.
• They will also start to demonstrate much more violent and aggressive behavior that shows little to no signs of stopping any time soon.
• Teenagers will become extremely clingy to their parents or elder siblings whenever they are outside their comfort zone and tend to be very shy and evasive around their peers.
• Both children and teenagers will start to experience frequent nightmares that haunt them for weeks on end as well as a noticeable increase in the amount of sleepwalking cases that occur every night.
• Lastly, mental health affects their bodies as well, making both children and teenagers suffer from excruciatingly painful stomachaches and upset stomachs that stay for a very long period of time.

FAQS

IS THERAPY LEGAL IN INDIA?

Therapy is one of the most legal acts of mental health defense in the entire country. It is capable of providing completely fresh advice that has been tailor made by some of the best mental doctors available in the country. The best thing is that all the information between you and your therapist is confidential and only meant for your eyes only.

CAN I GET FREE COUNSELLING IN INDIA?

NGOs and specific websites that are made just for giving out free advice across the internet such as iCall, NIHMANS, and even bigger, more popular websites such as Quora and reddit can be of great use.

CAN I TAKE ONLINE THERAPY IN INDIA?

You very much can take any particular online therapy session in India, as a lot of mental health websites are capable of providng specialized chats, video calls and even phone calls that are private and free to operate with.

CONCLUSION

Indian adults and children alike have been able to suppress their emotions and true feelings about how they feel in a very deep pit. But, now that pit seems to be overflowing and they are too afraid to go to someone who is an expert on why that is simply due to how society might mock them and instill upon them that being weak is not required in today's modern society.

All that is required from them is to simply ask for advice on how to get better and out of their sad and depressed state of mental health, and that is easily achievable through contact with a therapist or through finding ways out of their sad states. Help will always be available to them, they just need to know not to be afraid when asking for it.

Medical Disclaimer – The information that has been written is only to be used for educational purposes. There has been no information presented by this website, be it tests, images and graphics, which should be taken as professional medical advice. Always consult with your doctor regarding any medical advice that may relate to your condition.