More than 50 Million people in India have some or the other form of mental illness. WHO has predicted that by 2020 more than 20% of Indian population will suffer from mental illness. According to the research 9 out of 10 people suffering from mental health issues go uncared and untreated and 1 out of 5 individual have an emotional and behavioural problem, ranging from mild issues to sever, these individuals require support and treatment either psychological or psychiatric. Depression, the most prevalent form of mental illness, is estimated to exist 3 of every 100 in urban areas like Mumbai and of this 1 in 3 are severely neurotic, whereas the suicide rate is 10.9 every lakh. The crises related to mental have been increasing due to various factors. We cannot change the factors but we can learn to cope, create a support system along with these growing trends to support our self, our family and our surrounding.
Even though many celebrate doctors promote mental health, like Deepika Padukone openly talking about depression and her journey of coping with the struggles that came along, we had movies like Dear Zindagi, Tare Zameen Par spreading mental health awareness and normalizing the stigma, I was wondering why do we still hesitate to reach to a profession, after talking to few of my clients I came across some new insights;
- People do not know whom to approach, psychologist or a psychiatrist and what is the difference between them. So here it is, a psychiatrist comes from a medical background and is eligible to prescribe medication, whereas a psychologist provides therapeutic support to the client to deal and cope with their challenges. Both psychologist and psychiatrist can work together in the treatment of the patient.
- As there is no license in India for practising psychologist people don’t know what should be the qualification and training background of a profession they visit. A psychiatrist has an MD and a psychologist should at least have a Masters in psychology. This has also lead to many clients have an unpleasant experience like many new people in the field do not follow ethics of confidentiality and client-counsellor boundaries which leads an unhealthy image of this profession to the clients.
- Its waste of money, whereas it is an investment that you make in yourself, as the counsellor needs to guide you for life and help you make your life better. These life sessions and insights guide you to cope with challenging situations every day.
With growing technology and advancement there are going to be increasing stressors and it is okay to seek support outside from another person. We cannot forget that we are human beings and we also get affected by emotions and due to changing trend the physical health, the climate is also changing which impacts the mood and the emotions of individuals. As I always say that challenges will always keep coming we just need to learn how to manage them and a professional just makes the coping effortless and builds a healthy support system.
This awareness and support system starts at home and school. It is very important to normalize the mental health concerns and accept that its okay to visit a professional.
– Article by Rachana Awatramani (first published in T.O.I.)