“Peers” are a resource that can be tapped into to support a wide variety of people in the mental health system. These are people who have lived experiences of recovery in mental health. This kind of support offers the peers a meaningful work opportunity, financial and social empowerment, and consolidates their recoveries. It also helps those who are currently suffering by enabling them to experience a peer’s caring and supportive assistance, patient listening and helpful advice in view of the hurried and professional approaches of mental health professionals.
The question that needs to be asked is, how many of those being treated for mental illness are recovering? Does the current treatment regimen help people with recovery, or is it only a “treatment” option with an entry and no exit point? Psychiatric professionals need to focus on recovery.
Post-partum depression is a rising health concern in India, having an impact on the lives of both rural and urban women. Seventeen studies on PPD have been examined in order to understand the current state of knowledge of PPD, with respect to its prevalence, risk factors, effects and interventions.
Paternalistic governance of mental health practices and advocacy fail to locate mental health problems in the broader spectrum of personal, social, political, and economic lives.
There is a wide treatment gap in Indian mental healthcare. This article discusses the treatment gap and the contributing factors, and suggests ways to reduce it. The political (policy perspective), social (stigma, discrimination, and gender), cultural (beliefs, explanations, and help-seeking behaviours), and economic (direct and indirect costs of treatment) factors addressed have long impeded mental healthcare. A policy and research review reflects that mental illness in India contributes significantly to the global occurrence of mental illness. The treatment gap causes substantial losses to individuals, families, society, and the nation. Innovation and capacity building are necessary to develop and implement locally relevant, feasible, and effective community-based mental healthcare models.
The Mental Health Care Bill, passed in the Rajya Sabha in August 2016, and up for discussion in the Lok Sabha, attempts to address complex issues and integrate divergent perspectives, resulting in uneasy compromise. It is still a work in progress.
The provision of mental healthcare at the primary level in low- and middle-income countries is woefully inadequate today. While the recent emphasis on the link between mental disorders and non-communicable diseases appears to be a tactical advance, it is also an admission of the strategic failure of integrating mental healthcare into primary care.
This article proposes an "ecology of suffering" which mediates between the sufferer and the "clinic." "Ecology" refers to the network of forces acting on and by the people suffering and those around him/her. It is chosen to stress the mix of "natural," and "social" such as landscapes or air pollution. "The clinic" refers to what happens locally between the sufferer and mental health professionals attempting to actualise the National Mental Health Policy. The aim is to enhance a crucial, yet neglected, aspect of India's National Mental Health Programme: that individual mental suffering is related to a wide range of local factors.
After the Germanwings pilot with psychological problems flew a plane-load of passengers into the French Alps, there has been a great deal of public discussion on mental illness, suicidal tendencies and treatment. This comment addresses two larger issues related to mental distress and illness--psychiatric labelling and the indiscriminate use of psychotropic medication. Though human thinking, emotions, and behaviour defy simplistic categorisation, the current trend is to medicalise personal, social, economic, and political problems while diminishing the role of a causal environment.
Challenges in the provision, accessibility and corresponding treatment gaps in mental health services in India and other low- and middle-income countries have been the subject of considerable discussion in recent times. Moving away from frequently acknowledged macro concerns, a few recurring, persistent problems remain insufficiently analysed. This article aims to capture the complexity and distress caused by the co-occurrence and interrelatedness of poverty, mental ill health and homelessness. It examines the ramifications of this nexus in domains including health systems and access to healthcare, productive living and full participation, social attitudes and responsiveness, and the development of human resources and leadership in the social sector. It also discusses the failure to engage with these issues which results in greater vulnerability, distress and social defeat among the affected populations.
