The lockdown, social distancing, work from home culture, the closure of schools and online classes of children from home have increased our stress, depression and anxiety levels with frequent panic attacks.This has happened in all countries across the world.Domestic violence has increased and the children and the geriatric population has also suffered a lot of mental health issues.This pandemic has been universal with an increase in physical illnesses and co-morbidities and also the mental health of nearly everyone has suffered in some way or the other. After the pandemic, our concern about our physical wellbeing has increased, though it was always there before also, taking a toll on our mental health which has been further neglected. The world scenario has unfortunately become more unequal with the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ increasing widely after the pandemic. After the pandemic with the mental health issues increasing almost double fold, this problem has become much bigger. The rich were always able to access the treatment easily and they could pay and receive the best treatment before and even during the pandemic but the poor were not able to get/access it easily.The treatment gap for mental health problems has greatly increased especially for the poor.īefore the pandemic, this was stated to be about 70 to 80 per cent and this gap has further increased during the pandemic. The plethora of problems brought about by the pandemic has polarised the world by making the poor poorer and heightened its medical and mental health problems. The pandemic has created more inequality by creating more mental health issues in everyone all over the world be it children, adults or the older people.It has further strained our overstretched and inadequate mental health care services. It has affected us in many ways-healthwise- both physically and mentally, economically, socially and also created an educational crisis world over. This has triggered a global crisis in terms of heath care, finances, employment, education and relationships. It was an unequal world before the Covid-19 pandemic but now after the pandemic it has become even more unequal. Mental disorders are reported to be a major cause of suicides and Indians account for more than one-fourth of deaths by suicide globally.
This can increase the poverty levels of our country if not addressed.
According to the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS), nearly 80 per cent of those suffering from mental disorders do not receive treatment for years, and mental health disorders are also accompanied by stigma, thereby affecting education and livelihood opportunities. This number has significantly increased during and after the peak of the pandemic.Īccording to the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (2017) about 200 million or 20 crore people are having mental disorders in the country. The WorldHealth Organisation (WHO) says that health is complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.Īccording to WHO, mental health is stated as one’s well-being in which the individual understands his or her own abilities, and can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and make a contribution to the community.Mental disorders of varying severity affected one in seven Indians even prior to Covid 19 pandemic. The theme of World Mental Health Day this year as observed on Sunday was mental health in an unequal world. World Mental Health Day is celebrated on October 10 every year to create awareness about mental illness, to prioritise, sensitise and focus on spreading awareness of the importance of public mental health issues prevailing in people and empowering them against stigma and discriminating anyone.
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