India is the world’s most depressed country and we don’t talk about it as much as we talk about other diseases, but you’ll be shocked to know that 300 million people worldwide are suffering from depression. Depression and bad mental health have been ignored as a serious issue since ages. Mental health is as important as physical health but sadly nobody takes it as a serious illness and avoid talking about it.
People in India still take it as a taboo. A study reported in WHO, conducted for the National Care Of Medical Health, states that at least 6.5 per cent of the Indian population suffers from some form of the serious mental disorder, in spite of the rural-urban differences. Though there are effective measures and treatments, there is an extreme shortage of doctors and mental health workers like psychologists and psychiatrists.
As reported latest in 2014, it was as low as ”one in 100,000 people”. The average suicide rate in India is 10.9 for every one lakh people and the majority of people who commit suicide are below 44 years of age. According to these data, India is in a serious mental health crisis but the attitude which Indians show towards it is not helpful at all. It won’t make any change. A major part of population of India is highly judgmental towards those who have any kind of mental illness. They don’t like to talk to such people because they think it will affect their mental health too.
According to the surveys the people who understand it come from good socio-economic environment and are highly educated. The young kids are coming forward to support many mental health campaigns because they understand and are facing stress a lot. India has less resources and more population but one of the main aspects in which we highly fail is the stereotypical thinking of the people who live here. People still are blinded by the fake traditions and rituals. But depression is a serious mental illness which should be taken seriously otherwise it can cause long lasting severe feelings of sadness, hopelessness and loneliness.
There can be different symptoms for different people and it can also be differentiated according to gender. Many people mistook depression for sadness but it is more than just being sad and lonely. Symptoms of it can last from months to years. A person with depression cannot find pleasure or joy in anything. It gets very difficult for one to start a day and get off from the bed. There is just so much hopelessness in everything they do. Everything seems so tiring and difficult.
If you see a person like this please tell him to get help if needed and get a proper treatment otherwise it may result in us losing another life. Spread awareness against it, try to make people aware everywhere that mental peace and stability is the most important thing. Many celebrities are now breaking stereotypes and coming forward to talk about it publicly so people can realize its effects. Many mental health foundations are doing great work for the cause. And we can now only hope for things to get better.
