Media Critique
This article reports on a speech given by the President Ram Nath Kovind of India to the National Institute
of Mental Health and Neurosciences on the state of mental health today. It talks about how mental illness is becoming an epidemic and that India needs act in order to stop it. What surprised me the most was the fact mentioned that the number of people in India with mental illness is larger than the population of japan, which is around 127 million people. It’s even more surprising that there are only 5000 registered psychiatrists in India, and less than 2,000 clinical psychologists. The president calls for the need for a greater effort to reduce this gap in availability and to make sure anyone suffering from severe mental disorder receives the proper care by 2022. He also addressed how the biggest obstacle facing those with mental illness is stigma and denial towards their illness and that we must make a greater effort to fight this stigma in society and be more opened towards people, so they can get better.
This article raises questions on how mental illness should be addressed in the future, I think one important
part is the fact that the president of India is addressing this topic in a very open way. Mental illness is addressed so negatively in the US especially by the government. I don’t believe President Trump would ever address mental health issues in this same manner; bringing to light the problems that exist and how they should be improved. It’s a great step in the right direction for India and they are worlds ahead in where their priorities lie. There is still a disconnect between people’s access to information and availability of resources (Bayetti 2017). Not too long ago and still today people used to regard mental illness as a demonic possession or a magical event, rather than an illness just as serious as other physical illness. The fact is that many people living in rural communities do no see treatment as an important part of recovery and choose to deal with it within family limits. This attitude can affect the way the person views their disorder, affecting their prognosis in the future. The stigma attached to mental disorder can also affect help seeking behaviors, making them feel that getting help is just as bad as having the disorder in the first place.
The article also mentions that more hospitals have been inaugurated in a few more places in India.
However, there is still a large gap in accessibility for those living in rural areas. Most corporate hospitals are located in urban areas, sometimes causing people living in rural areas to travel thousand of miles for proper health care. With more than 90% of those with mental illness receiving no treatment whatsoever (Bayetti 2017). This is one aspect, along with the shortage of psychiatric professionals in the country, that is causing the problem to worsen. Most medical programs have a limited number of seats in psychiatry as compared to other medical practices, which lead post grads to go overseas to practice elsewhere. Because of the lack of personnel, mental health professionals are overworked, and unable to do their job to their full potential (Bayetti 2017). Research also suggests perceptions among medical students towards psychiatry and mental illness are very negative, with a large amount of misinformation among what it means to practice psychiatry and treat the mentally ill. Many medical students believe there is no hope for treatment for people with mental illness and fear being around those with a mental illness for various reasons.
Psychiatry in India today has also shifted to a more biomedical perspective; to a more western view where
doctors believe medication is the only thing needed to treat a mental illness. The practice has been increasingly impersonal and fails to take into account cultural and social differences among people (Bayetti 2017). This can also create a mistrust among people towards the credibility of mental health treatment, a possible explanation for such a large percentage of people not seeking care. The President also suggests yoga and meditation should be furthered explored as an aid to treatment of mental illness. Rao, N.,
Varambally, S., & Gangadhar, B. (2013 found that people with depression who practiced yoga had a better
prognosis overtime and were more likely to experience a remission of severe symptoms. They also found that yoga showed a considerable difference from regular exercise in the treatment of negative symptoms found in people with schizophrenia. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are also more difficult to treat using medication, due to its side effects, and yoga was found as great way to improve and fill that gap for many patients (Rao 2013).
article: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/india-is-facing-a-possible-mental-health-epidemic-says-president/article22335971.ece
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References
Bayetti, C., Jadhav, S., & Deshpande, S. N. (2017). How do psychiatrists in India construct their professional identity? A critical literature review. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 59(1), 27–38. doi: 10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_16_17
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Rao, N., Varambally, S., & Gangadhar, B. (2013). Yoga school of thought and psychiatry: Therapeutic potential. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(6), 145 doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.105510