National Mental Health Policy in India: Need for a Shift in Paradigm

India, the most populous country in the world also happens to host over 197.3 million people suffering from mental health related problems, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, etc. Moreover, we find treatment gap for many disorders ranging from 70-92%. Though we find a lot of focus on India’s economic growth and rising aspiration as a ‘world power-in-making’, the overall wellbeing of its people hasn’t received the desired attention.

My paper seeks to focus on the national mental health policy in India in terms of its vision, values and goals, on the one hand, and challenges, socio-cultural and fiscal constraints, on the other. It recommends that instead of government led mental health policy at the national level, India should adopt ‘a bottom up’ approach based upon collective action, strong social connections and supportive communities.

Instead of focusing on the materialistic notion of success based upon urban living and consumerism, India as an ancient civilization, should vouch for mental, emotional and social wellbeing by fostering community living. Such an approach can reintroduce the value of interdependence by focusing on ‘an individual-in-group’ rather than ‘an individual in isolation’.

It is possible if the mental health services are integrated into primary health care services at the local, state and national level, providing universal access on equitable and right-based approach without any stigma, making various government and non-government organisations play a proactive role in participating in various awareness and fund campaigns and helping in the implementation of national mental health policy.

India can also take an economic advantage of being a technical giant in the era of digitalisation. The methodology adopted is analytical, comparative and empirical.