While about 10% of the population in India suffers from common mental disorders, only about 15-25% of this receives mental health care. But a small-scale study carried out on approximately 5,000 people living in 30 tribal villages in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh was able to improve the practice of seeking out mental health... Continue Reading →
Counselling for depression: A journey within
Psychotherapy could not be more unlike the many psychometric tests that are administered to evaluate a person’s aptitudes and skills. The process pertains to the acquisition of the competencies required for a realistic self-appraisal of one’s emotional state of being. It is intended to help a person take charge of himself through enhanced self-awareness. The... Continue Reading →
Depression: The fault lies in classification
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million people across the world are living with depression. “But that does not mean that all the 300 million people would need medical intervention,” says Vikram Patel from Harvard Medical School and the Delhi-based Public Health Foundation of India. The reason: the current binary classification of... Continue Reading →
People seeking mental healthcare increased six-fold
The proportion of people with depression who sought care increased six-fold from 4.3 to 27.2 per cent in 30 villages in the Amravati district of Vidarbha. The proportion of people who accessed mental healthcare was the same across sex (53 per cent males and 47 per cent females), education, income and religion. As a result,... Continue Reading →
