Monday, July 9, 2018

Mental Health and how to take care of it

Mental health is an issue amongst the youth and the middle-aged with almost more than half of them claiming of suffering from some kind of mental disorder ranging from depression, anxiety, ADHD to bipolar disorders and panic attacks. 

The perfectionist nature of the millennials may be at fault in their higher risk of suffering from anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. The most important aspect of this problem is the diagnosis, commonly in India when a person talks about mental health issues he is often hushed by saying, “You’re fine, it’s all in your head”. The stigma of being termed as ‘mad’ when a person talks about this issue is much more prevalent in our county. Visiting a therapist or psychologist is often discouraged so more than 80% of them remains untreated. Living with mental illness is not easy. It’s a consistent problem without a clear solution. More often than not, mental health patients tend to ruin their lives in one way or the other either career wise or even in personal lives and in extreme cases leads to suicidal tendencies. 

Most Indians suffering from mental illness fear to talk about their issues in order to save themselves from being judged or people’s apathy towards them. Even when some of them somehow get the courage to speak out, there’s just negligible numbers of psychiatrist and psychologist in comparison to the patients showcasing the country’s and it’s citizen’s nonchalant attitude towards the problem. These are ailments like any other physiological disease and it needs to be talked about and cured not some guilty secret that can be pushed under the carpet.

India is going under a mental health crisis and we can no longer afford to ignore this issue. As individuals, it is our responsibility to work towards eliminating the stigma and creating a support system for the afflicted. On the other hand, it is the government’s responsibility to increase spending in order to enhance mental healthcare. There  is  an  urgent  need  of simple, easily available diagnostic test and low cost treatments to provide better primary healthcare.

For more such insights, contact Life coach Vivek Gupta


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