In India, one in 20 people suffering from mental illness do not get treatment, a recent study by World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed. The study conducted by the Department of Psychiatry of AIIMS in 11 districts in India on 24,000 individuals suggested that the females had a relatively higher prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders.
This initiative was taken as part of the WHO's World Mental Health (WMH) surveys. The eight sites together had a household sample of 24,371 individuals, aged 18 years or above. The samples were collected from Faridabad, Lucknow, Bhavnagar, Pune, Tirupati, Chittoor, Pondicherry, Dibrugarh, Imphal, Chandigarh, Ranchi, and Bengaluru.
"The prevalence of anxiety disorders was 2.44 per cent in males and 4.42 per cent in female. While that of mood disorders was 1.6 times higher among females," said Dr Rajesh Sagar, Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS who worked as co-ordinator and principal investigator for the survey.
The 12-month treatment for people with common mental disorders was 5.09 per cent. The survey revealed a huge treatment gap of 95 per cent, with only 5 out of 100 individuals with common mental disorders receiving treatment over the past year.
As many as 49.3 per cent males and 50.7 per cent females participated in the survey. Of the total sample, half were in the age group of 18–34 years, nearly three-fourths were married and three-fourths were educated up to primary level or below.
"There is a need to strengthen the primary care infrastructure and community mental health activities. Activities directed at information dissemination and community mental health awareness should be scaled up, and care should be taken to package them in a culturally acceptable manner," he said.
The study has been published in Indian Journal of Psychiatry. As per the recent estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study 2015, depressive disorders are ranked as the single largest contributor to non fatal health loss affecting 4.4 per cent of global population, whereas the anxiety disorders are the sixth largest contributor affecting 3.6 per cent of the global population.
"The majority of the people suffering from these disorders do not receive appropriate treatment and care, especially in developing countries with resource constraints," he said.
- The 12-month prevalence of common mental disorders was 5.52 per cent (in past one year only).
- Anxiety disorders (3.41%), mood disorders (1.44%) and substance use disorders (1.18%) were frequently seen.
- Females had a relatively higher prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders.
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