The Economic Survey 2023-24, tabled in Parliament by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, recognises mental health as the driver that most impacts individual and national development and for the first time gives extensive emphasis on this health issue, its importance and its implications for policy recommendations.
At an economy-wide level, mental illness leads to significant losses in productivity through absenteeism, reduced productivity, disability and increased health care costs, the study said. There is also evidence that poverty exacerbates the risk of mental illness and leads to increased psychological distress due to stressful life environments, economic instability and lack of opportunities for advancement, the study added.
Alarmingly, the study reported that 10.6% of Indian adults suffer from mental illness, with treatment gaps ranging from 70% to 92% for each condition, according to the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2015-16. Moreover, the prevalence of mental illness is higher in urban areas (13.5%) than in rural (6.9%) and non-urban areas (4.3%).
Citing a National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) survey on students’ mental health and wellbeing, the Economic Survey highlighted an increase in poor mental health among adolescents, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 11% of students reporting feeling anxious, 14% feeling extremely emotional and 43% experiencing mood swings.
The study recognises mental health as a fundamental aspect of overall well-being and recommends accelerating improvements in mental health care on the ground and implementing health care programmes appropriately to address gaps in existing programmes and maximise their effectiveness.
The report lists some of the key initiatives and policies implemented by the government, including the National Mental Health Programme, National Tele-Mental Health Programme, increased mental health workforce, as well as youth-focused health clinics (AFHCs) and peer education programmes.
Other initiatives include the central government’s commitment to increase the number of psychiatrists from 0.75 per 100,000 population to the World Health Organization’s standard of three per 100,000 population by 2021.
The study noted that the government is also working to standardise mental health service guidelines across government and the private sector, and introduce effective ways to integrate mental health interventions in schools, such as developing mental health curricula appropriate to the age of teachers and students, encouraging early intervention and positive language in schools, promoting community-level interaction and balancing the role of technology.
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