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A country that formed its own constitution nearly seven decades ago, and has been touted to be the next super force that would reckon the world, was yet to come of age with many aspects. What makes India a bag of contradictions? Is it its conventional outlook or the religion running in its psyche or the nerves filled with diverse cultures or the fact that so many things still lie in the closet, waiting to be tackled?<br />
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The India that has made giant strides in the technological, economic and scientific sectors, took time off to look at its mentally ill only recently.<br />
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Till then, despite umpteen warnings by the international agencies, communities and the United Nations, mental health was less cared for. At the best, ‘ignored’ would sum the treatment dished out to mentally ill, very nicely.<br />
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India’s mentally ill were so far the responsibility of the family. And, the legal provisions that described them were framed nearly three decades ago in 1987, and still remained valid. Backing up the mental health care policy with ‘Mental Health Action Plan 365’ which clearly carves out the specific roles to be played by the central government, state, and agencies appointed by governments. The mental health bill, which is ready to be tabled in the Parliament soon, has held a huge ray of hope for those who are suffering under severity of mental illness and limited treatment they could access so far.<br />
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The policy calls for more number of mental health professionals to be trained, and work on par with the primary health care centres, through both rural and urban areas to be able to deal with the burgeoning number of patients who come with illnesses that go beyond just a physical condition.<br />
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According to United Nations, about 20% of the people in total population of India will suffer from various mental illnesses by the end of the decade. Mental health has long been ignored in India. Given the fact that India spends only 0.06% of its total budget on mental health – which is equivalent to not spending at all on this area, there is a great urgency with which the matter has to be dealt by the governments at all levels.<br />
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India’s miniscule 0.06% spending on mental health would seem like a joke in front of what we believe the ‘poor’ Bangladesh spends on the mental health of its people. Because, the ‘poor’ and ‘poverty stricken’ Bangladesh sets aside more than 0.44 per cent of its total budget on mental health care spending.<br />
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Brazil, which is on par with India in more ways than one, spends a good 2.38% of its total budget on the mental wellbeing of its people, and plans to increase the amount in the coming years.<br />
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Japan is at a comfortable nearly 5% of its budget on creating better facilities and offering support to its people who are suffering from problems relating to mental health. United States of America is well behind UK with a spending of 6.2% on mental health facilities, while the latter spends nearly 11% of its total budget for this purpose.<br />
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Most bleak picture about India’s mental health care is the absence of trained professionals. There is only one psychiatrist to every 343,000 people. The country has not laid as much emphasis as it should, on mental health, as against the physical health of its people.<br />
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One of the most salient features of the policy is that it seeks decriminalisation of those who attempt suicide. The policy throws light on the largely neglected need to offer support for the caregivers who are invariably the family members. Technological strides apart, large part of India still struggles with the challenges posed by changing mental health scenario among people.<br />
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India’s maiden attempt to reach Mars was met with success, and the country humbly hopes things change at the ground level too.<br />

India’s First Mental Health Policy May Decriminalise Attempt To Suicide

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Across the US, young people are reporting more <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/mental-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">depression</a>.</li><li>Rates of depression have skyrocketed among <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kelly-catlin-suicide-highlights-rising-suicide-depression-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kids, teens, and young adults</a> under 25.</li><li>Experts say these <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-suicide-rate-increased-since-2000-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">young people are at serious risk</a> of long-term mental health issues, and more could be done to help them. </li></ul><p>Depression rates in the US are soaring.</p><p>Over the last decade, more and more people in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-suicide-rate-up-cdc-troubling-trend-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly every age group, financial bracket</a>, and circumstance across the country have reported worrying symptoms. They're losing interest in life, lacking zest for learning new things, and finding that activities they previously enjoyed feel meaningless.</p><p>Suicide <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/suicide-mortality/suicide.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death rates are also up 34% across the US</a> since 2000, and the spike is especially pronounced among groups including men working in construction, stay-at-home moms, and students, according to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-suicide-rate-up-cdc-troubling-trend-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data</a>.</p><p>But nowhere is this troubling trend more notable than among young people, as revealed by a <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/abn-abn0000410.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> published last week in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.</p><p>Based on eight years of data from more than 600,000 people across the US, the researchers discovered that more young people - particularly those in their early 20s - are going through sustained periods in which they're losing interest in life and leisure activities, at rates much higher than than that same age group did just a decade ago. These are signs of a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64063/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">major depressive episode</a>; typical symptoms can include feeling depressed, fatigued, worthless, or guilty. People experiencing these episodes often also do not get the right amount of sleep, struggle to concentrate, and may think about death often.</p><p>The graph below charts depression trends from a nationwide, anonymous survey that asks participants some straightforward questions about their mental health. (The survey is designed to gain information about people's drug and alcohol use.) The data clearly shows depression rates soaring among kids as young as 12 and young adults up to 25.</p><p>No age group over 25 has a depression rate higher than 10%, but the younger groups all do, and the rate among college-age adults (from 20-21) has increased the most. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p>Lead study author Jean Twenge, who <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501152016" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote the book</a> "iGen," told Business Insider that these trends shouldn't be dismissed as unavoidable generational shifts.</p><p>"We have a generation of young people who are suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts at a much higher rate, and we should stop trying to explain that away and recognize that it's a problem and try to solve it," Twenge said. "This trend <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kelly-catlin-suicide-highlights-rising-suicide-depression-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also shows up in suicide</a>. It also shows up in <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-shows-many-preteens-screen-positive-suicide-risk-during-er-visits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emergency room</a> admissions for self-harm behaviors, for suicide attempts - behaviors that can't be explained away by self-reports."</p><h2>Depression in teenagers can be especially dangerous</h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-know-if-you-are-depressed-4-short-l-words-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Depression is common</a>: The <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254610/1/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Helath Organization estimates</a> that on any given day, more than one in every 20 Americans is depressed. A major depressive episode isn't just a single bad day; rather, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64063/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">psychologists define it</a> as a sustained loss of interest or lack of pleasure in life that impacts a person's regular routines and day-to-day functioning for two weeks or more.</p><p><em><strong>Read More</strong></em>: <em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-know-if-you-are-depressed-4-short-l-words-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">These 4 short L-words can help reveal if you might be depressed</a></em></p><p>A bout of this kind of depression experienced as a kid, teen, or young adult can set people up for future mental health troubles. Research shows that people who experience depression in their formative years often have more frequent and more severe depressive recurrences throughout their lives.</p><p>"When followed into adulthood, those with adolescent-onset depression (compared to those without) are twice as likely to have a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64063/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Major Depressive Episode</a>, five times more likely to attempt suicide, and are at increased risk for death by suicide," the study authors wrote.</p><h2>'Face-to-face social interaction has declined'</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p>One factor that Twenge believes may be behind the spiking depression rates among young people: a decrease in social interaction.</p><p>A second study she authored, which was published Wednesday in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0265407519836170" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</a> examined four decades of surveys about how young people spend their time. The results showed that high school seniors today spend a full hour less socializing in-person than teens in the late 1980s did. High school sophomores aren't partying like they used to either - they attend approximately 17 fewer parties than the sophomores of the 1980s did.</p><p>That's not because today's kids are diligently <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.12930" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doing more homework or spending more time on extracurricular activities</a>. The extra time away from friends and peers is eaten up by screens, Twenge said. Her findings suggest that as teens spend more time alone on their devices, they're getting lonelier and feeling more left out. </p><p>"Face-to-face social interaction among teens has declined during the digital age, and that has mental health implications," Twenge said. "Face-to-face social interaction tends to protect against depression in a way that digital interaction does not."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p>A wealth of studies shows that<a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/111/45/16208" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> from day one</a>, human gaze is a crucial ingredient in social <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2006.0509#d3e240" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interaction</a>. Having <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22171567" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high-quality,</a> positive <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28889230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social interactions</a> with family and friends regularly can lower a person's risk of depression. </p><p>According to the Centers for Disease Control's <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/suicideTechnicalPackage.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manual on preventing suicide</a>, "connectedness and social capital together may protect against suicidal behaviors by decreasing isolation, encouraging adaptive coping behaviors, and by increasing belongingness, personal value, and worth, to help build resilience in the face of adversity."</p><p>Research about the effects of screen time is still new, but some early data suggests that replacing a kid's early social interactions with more time on devices may hurt their development of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30816568" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emotional understanding and empathy</a>. Screen time can also make it <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26607843" target="_blank" rel="noopener">harder to sleep through the night</a> than outdoor playtime.</p><p>"We are programmed to respond to other people in real time by looking at each other's faces, by being able to touch each other and smell each other," Twenge said. "Digital media interaction is missing a lot of those elements."</p><p>In addition to hanging out with others in person, Twenge said we should all also make time for other activities that boost mental health, like exercise and sleep - out of earshot from the buzzes and pings of phones and other screens. </p><p>Though only a trained mental health professional can diagnose depression or suicide risk, there's also more everyone can do to help each other out. Asking your peers, family, friends, and kids how they're doing - and really listening to their answers without judgment - is a simple first step.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more about depression and suicide in the US:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kelly-catlin-suicide-highlights-rising-suicide-depression-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The suicide death of a 23-year-old Olympic cyclist highlights a disturbing trend. Her former coach says we could be doing more.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-know-if-you-are-depressed-4-short-l-words-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">These 4 short L-words can help reveal if you might be depressed</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-suicide-rate-increased-since-2000-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The US suicide rate has increased 30% since 2000, and tripled for young girls. Here's what we can do about it.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-your-smartphone-is-doing-to-your-brain-and-it-isnt-good-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">This is what your smartphone is doing to your brain - and it isn't good</a></li></ul><p class="tagline">If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. <a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/">The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline</a> (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations.</p>

Depression among Gen Z is skyrocketing - a troubling mental-health trend that could impact the rest of their lives

You Searched For "Mental helath" and got 2 results

India’s First Mental Health Policy May Decriminalise Attempt To Suicide

Preetam Kaushik

Depression among Gen Z is skyrocketing - a troubling mental-health trend that could impact the rest of their lives

Hilary Brueck

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