Mental Rehab

 

Have you ever felt as if nothing made sense? Nothing was working in the way that you

wanted it to work? And when you tried to address that to someone and seek help, you were

given solutions that were to problems that you never had?

Ever told your parents/friends you were feeling overwhelmed with everything and just feeling

so confused or sad or having anxiety? And they replied that you should just be happy; just

ignore the negative feelings or to stop using your smartphone because it's the cause of all your

problems; start doing yoga.

Well, same.

Now the problem doesn't lie in the people who we seek help from, mostly if we're reaching

out to them it's because we feel safe with them, we love them and trust them and we know

that they also care for us. They are concerned for us but can they actually understand us? Or

relate with our situation? In most cases not really.

So where does the problem lie then?

Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health

conditions which are disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of

mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and

addictive behaviors.

Statistically speaking, WHO estimated that about 7.5 per cent Indians suffer from some

mental disorder and predicted that by end of the year 2020, roughly 20 per cent of India will

suffer from mental illnesses. According to the numbers, 56 million Indians suffer from

depression and another 38 million Indians suffer from anxiety disorders. Statistics given

by Anisha Bhatia.

Despite such a large number of people suffering from one or the other type of mental illness,

the number of people actually seeking help from professionals and therapists are very less.

This might also be due to the smaller number of psychiatrists and psychologists in our

country. According to WHO, per 100,000 population there are 0.3 psychiatrists, 0.12 nurses,

0.07 psychologists and 0.07 social workers, while the desirable number should be anything

above 3 psychiatrists and psychologists per 100,000 population.

The other reason behind people not seeking help is mostly due to the stigma behind it. Many

of us might have heard this once in our life, “Only mentally ill people go to psychiatrists”.

And here is where the problem lies. People shy away from getting help, they feel ashamed to

admit they require help and lastly, they also do not get the support. The price of therapists are

also very high and so people rely on other methods to get better but do they actually help?

In order to create awareness and make people understand the importance of seeking proper

therapy, many organizations have been set up. People post about mental health awareness on social

 media and there exists many pages which directly want to provide help and therapists

in a way which will be affordable to all.

With the pandemic and the mental health issues rising, therapists have also become online

and are reaching a hand towards anyone seeking help. They are ready, experienced and the

best guide. They understand and they listen so when you feel no one is listening, they will

always be there to listen to you.

To conclude I would just say that seek help before it’s too late because your mental health is

as important as your physical health. Don’t be afraid to show your weakness as taking help

will strengthen you only.

~ Vedha Bhasin (SYBSc)

References for this article:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-

20374968

 https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/world-mental-health-day-2020-in-numbers-the-burden-

of-mental-disorders-in-india-51627/