Mental health in India

Subject: Governance

Context: On Monday, world observed as World Mental Health Day.

Concept:

Mental health problems were already a major contributor to the burden of illness in India before the pandemic, with a third of all female and a quarter of all male suicide deaths in the world occurring in this country
Poor awareness about symptoms of mental illness, myths & stigma related to it, lack of knowledge on the treatment availability & potential benefits of seeking treatment are important causes for the high treatment gap

National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) in 1982

To ensure the availability and accessibility of minimum mental healthcare for all in the foreseeable future, particularly to the most vulnerable and underprivileged sections of the population;
To encourage the application of mental health knowledge in general healthcare and in social development; and
To promote community participation in the mental health service development and to stimulate efforts towards self-help in the community.

Mental Healthcare Act, 2017:

The Act seeks to ensure rights of the person with mental illness to receive care and to live a life with dignity. The key features of the Act are:

Rights of Persons with Mental Illness: Right to Access to Healthcare, Right to live with dignity, Right to Confidentiality
The Act empowers person with mental illness to make an advance directive that states how he/she wants to be treated for the illness and who his/her nominated representative shall be.
The Act mandates the government to set up Central Mental Health Authority at national-level and State Mental Health Authority in every State.
A mentally ill person shall not be subjected to electro-convulsive therapy without the use of muscle relaxants and anaesthesia. Further, electroconvulsive therapy cannot be used on minors
Decriminalization of Suicide