Express Healthcare

26,00,00,000 Indians suffer from mental health disorders

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Study by Government of India shows one out of five Indians suffering

A study by the Government of India shows that one out of every five Indians is suffering from a mental disorder. In fact, that places every family at severe risk of multiple issues such as chronic depression, suicidal tendencies and work related stress. 50 per cent of corporate India is under chronic stress with 30 per cent having problems such as addiction and marital discord, and 20 per cent suffering from depression. That effectively means that a rise in depression is a very real threat that could affect the country’s denizens and economy over a period of time.

In spite of suicides, stress-related shootings and students hanging themselves being the norm of the day, mental and emotional healthcare is heavily stigmatised by society. The fear of being ridiculed, or the absence of options, has today led to India being 111th on the World Happiness Report as released by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranking behind Pakistan and Bangladesh. In fact, a World Health Organisation report suggests that India is the most depressed country in the world, also listing suicide as the third largest cause of death in 15 – 35 year olds, an age group accounting for ~50 per cent of India, and a situation accounting for 32 per cent of the world’s suicides.

Also, according to the World Health Organisation report in 2011, one out of seven people in India i.e 15 per cent of Indian population was depressed and in 2015, one out of five people in India i.e 20 per cent of Indian population is depressed that showcases an alarming increase in rates of depression by five per cent of the population in just a span of four years putting us all in grave situation.

Youth constitute a majority of India’s populace and the country’s growth trajectory is being mapped to follow Japan’s. Hence we need to align ourselves with the mental and emotional needs of the country.

Through awareness building activities, Healtheminds, a provider various types of online psychiatry and counselling services which are integrated with a secure and confidential video technology platform, is working towards changing the rigid mind-set and cultural taboos associated with mental health, and seeking professional counselling.

With the number of telephonic subscribers reaching close to a billion (~957.61 million as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), outreach in the mobile age is no more a problem, and it is this advantage that Healtheminds tries to leverage, as it reaches out to close to 20 per cent of the country using a method that is available to close to 80 per cent of Indians thereby making counseling freely available, affordable and as importantly, a viable option to suicide.

Healtheminds offers its customers qualitative and transparent services by enforcing strict screening procedures while curating its panel of doctors who help patients resolve their mental and emotional problems. The healthcare professionals on board are signed and trained on (HIPAA) and Healtheminds’ code of ethics, guidelines, online protocol.

Source: www.healtheminds.com

 

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