Nearly 14% Indians are mentally ill, reveals Nimhans study

[email protected] (CD Network)
October 12, 2016

Bengaluru, Oct 12: A nationwide study conducted by National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (Nimhans) has revealed a shocking prevalence of mental illness in India. At least 13.7 per cent of India's general population has been projected to be suffering from a variety of mental illnesses; and 10.6 per cent of this requires immediate intervention.

indiaIn all, nearly 150 million Indians are in a need of active medical intervention, according to the study, submitted by Nimhans to the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Monday.

Concerned over the growing problem of mental health in India, the ministry had appointed Nimhans to study the mental health status in the country in 2014 to come up with stronger mental health policies.

The aim of the survey was to study the magnitude of the problem in the country when Dr P Satish Chandra was the director of Nimhans.

India was one of the first countries to develop a national mental health programme in the early 1980s, but there was no proper study to understand the spread and estimate of mental illness in the state.

Although a mental health survey was conducted almost a decade ago, there were several fallacies in that report. The report stated that the estimates at the national and state levels were not possible due to methodological limitations.

The current study, starting from data collection, was initiated in 2014. Through computer-generated random selection, primary data was collected from 12 states with a sample size of 34,802 people.

A pilot study was done in Kolar in Karnataka. It covered all important aspects of mental illness that included substance abuse, alcohol use disorder, tobacco use disorder, severe mental illness, depression, anxiety, phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, among others.

The prevalence of mental morbidity was found to be very high in the Indian urban centres with higher prevalence of schizophrenia, mood disorders and neurotic- or stress-related disorders.

Researchers have attributed the disturbing scenario to fast-paced lifestyles, stress, complexities of loving, breakdown of support systems and challenges of economic instability.

One of the biggest concerns emerging from the study is that despite three out of four persons experiencing severe mental disorders, huge treatment gaps exist.

Apart from epilepsy, the treatment gap for all mental health disorders is more than sixty per cent. In fact, the economic burden of mental disorders is so huge that affected families had to spend nearly Rs 1,000-1,500 a month mainly for treatment and to access care.

Due to the stigma attached with mental disorders, nearly 80 per cent of people suffering from mental disorders had not received any treatment despite being afflicted by the illness for over 12 months.

Poor implementation of programmes under the national mental health programme has been found to be the main culprit for this scenario.

They not only have a low priority in the public health agenda but the health information system itself does not prioritise mental health.

Not only is there a paucity of mental health specialists, the institutional care in India, too, has been found to be limited.

The researchers suggest that mental health financing needs to be streamlined. The other problems also include interrupted drug supply to treat mental illness.

Comments

Ahmed USA
 - 
Thursday, 13 Oct 2016

Sam ,u proved urself to be a student of madrasa .message board itself clearly says many have become mentally retards becoz of many reason ..one is triple talaq ..now they cannot escape from marriage after raping woman. Second ..surgical strike hit them most becoz many of them thought their relatives can do anything in Pakistan .but now their dreams are shattered .third point arrest of salafist linked Isis elements .4th point losing grip on central govt as iron man is ruling the central .mr sam .1.25 billion population yaar .have commonsense .max voters 65crores .in that Muslims didn't vote for bjp and 31% they have received .FYI how much your siddu got do u know ? .send ur kids at least to schools instead of salafist madrasas..at least they don't become like you .

Rikaz
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

Modi promised 15 lakhs and ache din and may be he is also one of them....

Ashwin
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

SAM, UAE
You are wrong, 14% of the people are those who voted for the Looters party inspite of their pro Pak, non stop looting, minority appeasing policy. This list includes Puppu, Mani, Khurshid, Diggy etc

Go Moothra
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

Those who changed clothes (Chaddi to trouser) .....recently ...but could not change their Minds.....

Shaad
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

We know 31% Indians who elected present Govt. are mentally ill, how come it reduced to 14%? May after 2 years some realised their mistakes..!

SAM
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

Don't understand why the NIMHANS spent so much to reveal that the number of people voted for NDA are mentally ill.

17 Cr out of 1.25 Billion voted for NDA which is 14%.

Surely Arnab Go & Swami are the on the top list who needs to be admitted to ICU.

Abdul Narayan Dsouza
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

Arnab Gobar swami and Naren Kothi will be in the list

Abbu Beary
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

Some saffron group activists all of a sudden become mentally ill if they were caught in terror case. I want to know whether they also included in this 14 per cent ?

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News Network
July 12,2020

Bosnia, Jul 12: Bosnians commemorated on Saturday the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, marking the 25th anniversary of killings that shocked the world and have stood out as Europe's only atrocity since World War Two constituting genocide.

Nine newly identified victims were buried at a flower-shaped cemetery near the town, where tall white tombstones mark the graves of 6,643 other victims.

"After 25 years we succeeded in finding his mortal remains, so they can be laid to their final rest," said Fikret Pezic, who buried his father Hasan.

The remains of some 1,000 victims of the massacre in the eastern town during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war are still missing.

Ifeta Hasanovic decided to bury incomplete remains of her husband, saying: "We were aware they cannot be complete after 25 years, at least there are some, I did not want to make any new delays."

World leaders addressed the ceremony by video link, unable to attend because of coronavirus epidemic. Instead of the tens of thousands visitors who typically attend the commemoration each year, only a few thousand came after organisers banned organised visits.

During the Bosnian war, Bosnian Serb forces pushed non-Serbs out of territories they sought for their Serb statelet. Fleeing Muslims took shelter in several eastern towns, including Srebrenica, that were designated as United Nations "safe zones".

On July 11, 1995, the Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic overran Srebrenica, which was protected by lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers.

They sent women and children away and captured and executed the men and boys they found. The bodies were dumped into mass graves and later exhumed by U.N. investigators and used as evidence in war crimes trials of Bosnian Serb leaders.

"We grieve with the families that tirelessly seek justice for the 8,000 innocent lives lost, all these years later," said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Washington brokered Bosnia's peace deal months after the massacre.

Most people at the commemoration were Muslim Bosniaks, reflecting conflicting narratives about the bloodshed - which hinders reconciliation nearly 25 years after the end of war in which about 100,000 people were killed.

The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted Mladic and his political chief Radovan Karadzic over Srebrenica genocide but they remained heroes for Serbs, many of whom deny that genocide happened.

On Saturday, the Serbs in the nearby town of Bratunac organised an event marking July 11 as the "Srebrenica Liberation Day".

Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, called for legislation that would ban denial of genocide.

"There can be no trust as long as we witness attacks on the truth, denial of genocide and glorification and celebration of executors," Dzaferovic told the commemoration gathering.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 9: A special task force--set up by the government of Karnataka--submitted a report to the Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa, putting forward recommendations suggesting minimisation of restrictions in districts where there is nil or minimum cases, here on Wednesday.

The committee said: "COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients should be segregated and online health services should be encouraged. Restrictions should be minimised in districts where there is nil or minimum cases of COVID-19 and lockdown should be continued in hotspot areas with quarantine measures strictly being implemented."

With regards to the testing of likely patient, the committee informed that rapid test kits would help to quarantine more likely patient. "The rapid test kits will arrive in April 12. These kits will boost our facility and would help us in quarantining the more people."

On the subject of lifting transportation ban, the committee suggested that the transport of goods and services must continue but with regards to passenger carriers, they are suspended till April 30.

"Goods and Transportation should be allowed, but passenger carriers should be banned until further orders. No buses, trains nor flights will be plying till April 30. No metro trains and auto-rickshaws should be allowed and an odd-even system transport system should be implemented," the committee added.

The committee also suggested that all industries, IT, BT and Garments should be made to work on 50 per cent strength. Garments workers should be allowed to stitch PPEs, which are in more demand. And for construction workers, the committee suggested that they should be allowed to work at sites at 50 per cent strength.

They suggested that educational institutions remain closed till May 30 and online classes must be encouraged.

Dr. Devi Shetty heads the Taskforce and Dr. C. N. Majunath, Dr. Nagaraj, Dr. Ravi and Sudharshan were also the part of the committee.

According to the Ministry of health and family welfare, 181 cases have been reported in the state so far. A total of 5,734 positive cases have been reported of which, 166 are dead and 473 are cured/discharged and migrated.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Students and teachers from various colleges in Bengaluru gathered at the Town Hall in the city to protest against the violence which broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi on January 5.

The students raised slogans against Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Police.

Placards that read 'The more you attack, the stronger we become', 'Take off your masks terrorist', 'With JNU' were seen during the protest.

"We are here to protest against the incident that took place at JNU with our brothers and sisters. What Delhi Police did was shameful and they should have taken charge of the situation long before and not waited for three hours. We stand with JNU," Nisha, a protestor told ANI.

Professors present at the protest expressed regret over the incident and said attacks on the universities is a sick situation in the country.

"This is sick, where have we come to -- violence in the universities? I was so safe when I was studying in college; what we are giving to our students is horrible," said Sangeeta, a professor present at the protest.

Politicians, cutting across party lines, have condemned the attack on students in JNU and demanded strict action against those found guilty.

More than 18 students were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU campus and attacked them and some professors with sticks and rods.

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