President’s Message
THE MIND MATTERS
With more than 300 million cases around the world, depression is the single largest public health problem in the world according to the World Health Organization.
And these figures have nothing to do with the pandemic which, needless to say, increased mental health challenges, thanks to isolation, fear and loss of livelihood and normalcy.
A 2016 report suggests that India has a critical problem of a large number of people dealing with depression and anxiety, with about one in every five Indians suffering from some mental health issue and 50 per cent of corporate India under severe stress. Research suggests that many of these conditions are caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors. But while discourse around physical health and well-being is growing in the country, awareness and acceptance of mental health issues is still vastly lacking.
A 2018 World Economic Forum survey held in India showed that 57 per cent of respondents claimed to “sometimes fear” the mentally ill, while 60 per cent felt that mentally ill people should be segregated.
While the lack of frank conversations around mental health is a key impediment, experts say this adds to scarcer resources and doctors available. Only 10-12 per cent of those suffering from mental ailments get professional treatment according to a 2017 WHO report.
Let’s come together and remove the stigma attached to mental health issues, so the world can be a happier, brighter place for every individual. “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching”
than to say “My heart is broken.” – C.S. Lewis – The Problem Of Pain
Framroze Mehta
President