20 crore Indians suffer from mental disorders

It is a serious matter that such a large number of people are affected by mental disorders. Spiritual practice is the only remedy on mental disorders and it has been proved that people are being freed from mental disorders when they perform spiritual practice.

Such a pathetic state exists because all parties have never taught spiritual practice to people after the country became Independent. A society that performs spiritual practice is mentally capable in the true sense.

New Delhi – Around 200 million or 20 crore Indians – almost the population of Pakistan or Brazil – were affected by mental disorders in 2017. This includes 46 million or 4.6 crore Indians suffering from depression and another 45 million or 4.5 crore from anxiety attacks. These are the findings of a new study – India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Mental Disorders Collaborators – published in the medical journal ‘The Lancet Psychiatry’.

“The big message here is that mental health cannot be ignored in India”, said one of the study’s authors Dr. Rakhi Dandona from the Public Health Foundation of India.

“We always knew that mental health is a problem, but this study tells us how much of a problem it really is. One in every seven Indians has a mental disorder and these 200 million affected Indians deserve attention”, she added.

“There is a higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in the southern Indian States, which also had higher suicide rates than northern Indian States”, said Rahul Shidhaye of Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, Loni.

The reason for the high level of mental disorders, said experts, are societal pressure and a rising sense of alienation or loneliness. Psychiatrist Dr. Harish Shetty said the country is in a ‘chronic disaster’ state. “There is high level of anxiety as well as the hyper-vigilance brought on by violence and a volatile political climate over the past 15 years”.