New Delhi: In a first, the Economic Survey 2023-24—that was tabled by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, on Monday addressed issues related to mental health, its significance and implications on policy recommendations.
The survey noted that as per the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2015-16, 10.6% adults in India suffered from mental disorders while treatment gap for mental disorders ranged between 70% and 92% for different disorders.
It also highlighted that prevalence of mental morbidity was higher in urban metro regions (13.5%) as compared to rural areas (6.9%) and urban non-metro areas (4.3%). Citing NCERT’s Mental Health and Well-being of School Students Survey, it also mentioned about an increasing prevalence of poor mental health among adolescents, exacerbated by the pandemic.
According to the survey, 11% of students reported as feeling anxious, 14% as feeling extreme emotion and 43% experiencing mood swings.
Initiatives taken under National Mental Health Programme
Under the District Mental Health Programme of this scheme, more than 1.73 lakh Sub Health Centres, Primary Health Centres, Urban PHCs and Urban Health and Wellness Centres were upgraded to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs providing mental health services.
National Tele Mental Health Programme
With over 1600 trained counsellors in over 20 languages, 53 Tele MANAS cells were set up in 34 states/UTs and more than 8.07 lakh calls handled since Oct 2022, as of 31 March 2024.
Increasing mental health personnel
About 25 Centres of Excellence were sanctioned to increase PG students’ intake, support provided to 19 Government medical colleges/institutions to strengthen 47 PG Departments, mental health services provisioned for 22 AIIMS, and three Digital Academies providing online training courses to general healthcare medical and paramedical professionals set up.
Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram initiatives
Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHC) and Peer education programmes were conducted across the country. In addition to national initiatives, the Survey also highlights unique, independent initiatives implemented at the state level. These state-level initiatives, the Survey states, complement national efforts in addressing mental health and well-being among children and adolescents.
Survey recommends more psychiatrists on field
The Survey recommends re-doubling efforts to increase the number of psychiatrists, from 0.75 psychiatrists per lakh population in 2021 to the WHO norm of 3 per lakh population. It also stated that comprehensive guidelines should be developed for the excellence centers’ services alongside mental healthcare professionals and users to understand their needs.
