The Union Budget

     Union Budget focuses on mental health Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar on Tuesday hailed the Union Budget 2022-23 and said that it focused on health infrastructure, mental health, and other provisions. "There was focus on health infrastructure, mental health and other provisions in today's budget," Pawar told ANI. She further expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Budget. The Finance Minister in her presentation of the Union Budget in Parliament today pointed out that the pandemic has accentuated mental health problems of people of all ages. Sitharaman announced a plan to set up a National Tele Mental Health program in the country and said 23 tele-mental health centres will be launched with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) as the nodal centre. "To better access to quality mental health counselling and care services. A national telly mental health programme will be launched which will include a network of 23 telly mental health centres of excellence with the National Institute of Mental health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) being the nodal centre," she said. Sitharaman also announced the rollout of an open platform for the national health ecosystem. It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework and universal access to health facilities, she had stated. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India's mental health workforce is severely understaffed.

 There is a massive shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists compared to the number of patients suffering from mental health issues. According to the international organisation's data, there are only three psychiatrists and psychologists for every 1,00,000 people. It has been predicted that owing to the pandemic and its influential factors, the number of patients who have any mental disorders would touch 20 per cent in the country. Roughly 56 million Indians suffer from depression, and 38 million suffer from some anxiety disorder. People have become increasingly conscious of their physical well-being. However, mental health maintenance remains ignored to a great extent. The younger population suffers from developmental disorders, and the older population falls prey to depression and anxiety. The WHO estimated that India's economic loss because of the prevalence of mental health is $1.03 trillion between 2012-2030. Ironically, maintaining good overall well-being is still a luxury in a country like India. People treat mental health areas as a waste of time. Even they know the importance of this. They took advantage of traditional or conventional remedies to cure major disorders like depression, bipolar and schizophrenia. There are huge misconceptions that are affecting the growth of mental health workers. Depression is not cured by talking with friends or travelling. People are risking their lives by not taking proper treatments from a mental health professional.

Ms. Sithara Parveen

Asst. Prof. of Psychology

Al Shifa College of Arts & Science

Keezhattur, Perinthalmanna