Increasing number of mental illnesses

• The number of people with mental illnesses had been increasing across the world even before the pandemic.

Less number of mental health professionals

• Despite mental health issues constituting a significant percentage of the health burden in India, the country does not have enough mental health professionals, especially psychiatrists and clinical psychologists.

Pandemic induced mental illness

• According to a recent review in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children whose movements have been severely restricted are at a higher risk of experiencing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety during the pandemic.
• Though the pandemic has a deep psychological impact on people of all age groups, children are especially vulnerable to adverse mental health conditions during such times.

UNICEF survey findings

• In the early stages of the pandemic, UNICEF had conducted a survey of children, parents, teachers and caregivers in 104 countries on how the event was affecting their lives, particularly their mental health and psychosocial well-being.
• It pointed out that there is an urgency to work for the mental health and psychosocial well-being of the world’s children and lend support to parents and caregivers as well.
• As the pandemic rages on, it is important to monitor young people’s mental health status and provide psychosocial support whenever and wherever necessary.

Psychosocial support in Odisha

• Odisha had some experience of psychosocial support in the aftermath of the super cyclone in 1999 and a severe cyclonic storm in 2019 where volunteers were trained in providing psychosocial support.
• Children were encouraged to participate in various activities like painting, music, storytelling, dance, quizzing, toy-making. They were also encouraged to share their emotions.
• It was possible, through structured counselling, to improve the coping capacity of disoriented children.
• These experiments were found to be useful in bolstering their confidence and getting them back to school.

Way forward

Create community volunteers

• The availability of mental health professionals being unlikely to match the requirements of a growing number of people suffering from mental illness, creating a cadre of community volunteers to reduce the burden on health workers can be considered.
• The experiences of countries such as Zimbabwe, Canada and New Zealand show that community volunteers with some basic training can supplement regular mental health services.

Talk therapy

• The inadequacy of mental health professionals in Western countries as highlighted by some economists says that as a result, two-third of people with a mental health problem do not receive any treatment.
• In such a scenario, ‘talk therapy’, recommended by the World Health Organization, could be the first line of treatment which can be delegated to community volunteers.

Conclusion

• In India, where basic health infrastructure is weak, access to mental health services is a far cry.
• The pandemic has once again exposed this weakness and it is time for greater attention to be paid to the availability of adequate mental health services both in urban and rural areas.