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Lifestyle takes toll, number of mental patients rise in Mumbai

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As people get sucked into the vortex of fast-paced lives where aspirations of career mobility and better financial prospects are offset with rising insecurities and stress, the numbers of patients seeking psychiatric help has seen a marked increase.

The number of people treated at these hospitals in Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Ratnagiri, have risen from 5,403 indoor patients and 83,294 outdoor patients in 2009-10 to 7,118 and 1,39,791 in 2013-14. Mental health experts attribute this increase to rising awareness as well as mental health problems fuelled by lifestyle demands. This year the figure stands at 679 and 12,449 till April.

It is estimated that worldwide, one in very 100 individuals suffers from severe mental illness, and nearly 10 to 12 per 100 individuals suffer from minor mental disorders. Considering Maharashtra's population, it is estimated that there could be around 800,000 to 1 million suffering from various mental illnesses.

Maharashtra has four regional mental hospitals: Pune-2,400 beds, Thane-1,800 beds, Nagpur-940 beds and Ratnagiri-365 beds. The state director, health services, has granted licences to 94 private psychiatric nursing homes. A 200-bed mental illness centre will come up at Ambejogai in Beed district; construction is underway.

"The number of outpatients has gone up due to more awareness... the number of young patients too has gone up," psychiatrist Dr Rajendra Barve said. Lifestyle demands add to more distress and ultimately result in more people seeking psychiatric help.

Barve said he sees patients suffering from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), phobias, stress and anxiety. Also, urban youngsters, especially those from affluent families or those with disposable income, are dependent on medicines, they take to drugs like charas and ganja, he said.

OCD cases are on the rise as more and more people aim to be perfectionists. The social fabric has changed. Small families mean fewer carers (those taking care of mentally ill people). "Carers' fatigue coupled with intractability of an illness lead to more in-patient admissions in mental hospitals for chronic illnesses like bipolar disorders and schizophrenia," Barve said.

"We are more into the materialistic world than an ethical or moral one," Dr Sanjay Kumavat, former superintendent of Thane Mental Hospital and ex-deputy director (mental health), state government, said. Most patients sought help for depression, frustration, addictions and anger management. Increased awareness has led to more people seeking help for mental health problems.

Kumavat said OCD cases are a "surface of the iceberg phenomenon due to their secretive nature like psyco-sexual mental health problems".

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