Mental Illness—A Potential Pandemic

Mental health disorder—the least spoken condition that affects the individual’s life in every way possible, yet ignored by the large population. The illness refers to the state of the human mind which disturbs a person’s emotions, behavioural traits, and the response mechanism to various people or situations.

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The importance of being aware of our mental health and knowing when to seek medical help is increasing rapidly, as the number of people receiving mental health services, globally, is as high as 42.6%, as mentioned by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 2017.

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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) report in 2001 on how different countries were equipped to counter the mental illness of its citizens is a clear display of how the disease is neglected worldwide. The reports said, among all the countries,

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• 40% did not have a mental health policy.

• 30% had no mental health program.

• 25% had no mental health legislation.

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The awareness of mental health among the civilians distinctively suggests there were no significant changes to society’s perception of the disorders, even after nineteen years of the report’s release.

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WHO declared mental disorders as the fourth leading cause of global disease, and also that one in four people get affected by different kinds of mental illness during any phase of life. The various facts and reports alarmingly warn us that mental illness is on the verge of becoming one of the most potential pandemics around the globe.

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The reason for the disease to become a pandemic depends not only on the number of people affected by it but also on the doctors who treat the patients.

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The reports, again by the WHO in 2014-16, state high-income countries have about 12 psychiatrists and 22.5 psychiatric nurses per one-hundred-thousand population.

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In low-income countries, the numbers of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses compared to high-income countries decrease as drastically as 120 and 75 times, respectively.

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So, how can we stop this?

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The fact that mental illness has an impact on a person is inevitable. The condition, arguably, doesn’t have a cure, but the doctors say it is not permanent either. The disease does not persist throughout the lifetime of an individual. Still, there are chances of illness reverting due to the possible trigger moments—in case of conditions such as depression, schizoaffective disorder, and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD.)

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The effectiveness of the illness cannot be underestimated, neither can we avoid the occurrence of the disease, but steps can be taken to detect the symptoms and get counselling or psychotherapy based upon the severity of the disorder.

 

The signs and symptoms include:

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1. The feeling of sadness; or being low.

2. Going through insecurities, fear and guilt.

3. Detaching oneself from reality; living in assumptions (can be hallucinations on a deeper level.)

4. Inability to concentrate on things one usually does with ease.

5. Increased anger; suicidal thoughts; and unable to deal with stress.

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The WHO also mentioned that two-thirds of the illness-affected people never get any mental consultation as they are unaware of their mental state. The doctors say the early detection of the illness can cause a substantial decrease in the percentage of treatment based on medication.

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Based on the severity and the patient’s condition, the disorders can be treated in various ways:

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• Counselling can be given to the patients who are at an early stage of the illness.

• Psychotherapy for higher-level disorders.

• Medication is used along with psychotherapy for better results.

• The patient’s hospitalization is a rare case that is done to give time-to-time medication and monitor the patient closely. This is done when the illness leads to addictions—could be alcohol, drugs, etc.

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Mental health disorders, in individuals, grow with time, and in the worst case, leads to suicide. There is no way we could deal with it better at a higher level than early detection.

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The ratio of patients to doctors urges us to take precautions. The day when we get out-staffed or the situation slipping out of our hands is not far away. The number of suicides per day clearly suggests this.

So what can we do?

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The person affected with illness might be just next to us. Doctors, consultants, and nurses will do their jobs when required, but we have our share of responsibilities before that. This can only be possible by understanding and sharing more and more about mental health and listening to the people around us—understanding their problems and emotions.

 

We need not change the entire society, but we have our own handful of people we can take care of. These little things we do will bring huge changes in the long run, and every massive change starts with YOU.