Bengaluru: 1.9 per cent of population mentally ill, says Survey

Bengaluru: A National Mental Health Survey (NMHS), which was conducted across 12 states in six regions of the country, was released by Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee on Monday at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans).

The unique study carried out by Nimhans in collaboration with 12 state teams was undertaken in 43 districts, 80 taluks and 720 clusters. It involved more than 400 people, including 120 data collectors, and surveyed nearly 40,000 individuals.

"The aim of the survey was to estimate the prevalence of mental disorders, identify health seeking patterns and treatment gap, assess disability and socio-economic impact for mental, behavioural and substance use disorders. In addition, it also assessed the availability of mental health services, facilities and systems for mental healthcare in all the states," said Dr B.N. Gangadhar, Director, Nimhans, while speaking to the media before the release. He said that there is a need to bridge the treatment gap with increased awareness. The stigma should be brought down and the affected should be able to openly talk about mental illnesses.

The survey revealed that nearly 1.9% of the population is affected with severe mental disorders in their lifetime, while 0.8% are identified to be currently affected. Severe mental disorders, like schizophrenia, other nonaffective psychoses and bipolar affective disorder, were detected more among males and in those residing in urban areas. NMHS revealed that mental disorders are significantly higher in households with lesser income, poor education and limited employment, he said.