Less than a fortnight ago, an engineer in his late 30’s took his life by jumping off one of Mumbai’s newest bridges, reportedly due to financial pressure.
Silent images of the tragic eventuality were captured on CCTV — a stark reminder of the fragility of an individual faced with compelling pressure. An SoS moment, if one was needed, to make mental health support normal and accessible to people, to help navigate their individual storms.
From the pandemic to now, more men are seen to be dying by suicide, while more women attempt it, says Preeti Singh, Senior Clinical Psychologist and Chief Medical Officer at Lissun, a mental health platform. Societal pressure, ensuring financial stability, the feeling that even a small setback is a catastrophe and the absence of a coping mechanism, she explains, are some of the reasons that corner people into “dark spaces”. Not only is mental health still stigmatised, “men take more time (to speak about their problems) and internalise it”, she observes, calling for interventions and trust building “safe spaces”, where the person is not judged.
Pointing to increasing work demands on individuals, expected to compensate for less people in an organisation, she says, “more is not always good”. Besides, this could exacerbate anxiety in an already anxious person.
In a first of sorts, the recently tabled Economic Survey 2023-24 talks about mental health — its impact in individual and national development, and points to treatment gaps, among other things. A key recommendation it makes, is “Re-doubling efforts to increase the number of psychiatrists, from 0.75 psychiatrists per lakh population in 2021 to the WHO (World Health Organization) norm of 3 per lakh population.”
Great expectations
Parveen Shaikh, Vice President Operations, Mpower (an initiative of the Aditya Birla Education Trust), acknowledges the “main-streaming” of mental health and calls for an increase in the number of trained, qualified professionals to screen, counsel and provide interventions.
Pointing to common stress-points that are brought up, she points to financial insecurity, with salary increments not enough to cope with rising inflation, downsizing of employees, mismatch of employer-employee expectations and longer work hours expected from employees.
In a workplace survey by Mpower (May 2023), its Founder and Chairperson Dr Neerja Birla writes, “The results of this survey alarmingly tell us that almost half our workforce is at risk of mental health issues, and women are at a greater risk than men.” In fact, “42 per cent of corporate India is depressed or suffering from anxiety disorders. Two out of three people who have suffered from depression still face prejudice at work or while applying for new jobs. Only one in ten people have access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and barely than a thousand registered corporates in India have structured EAPs,” she adds. (The survey covered 3,000 people (between 30 and 60 years), ranging from Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors to senior managers and repotees; across banking, IT, BPOs, FMCG, automobiles, healthcare etc).
Lissun’s Singh says, the younger generation is more open to counselling and interventions. There are myths around mental health treatment, including the fear of taking medicines for life, she says, urging people to consult qualified specialists and understand that medications, if required, can be targeted and tapered off depending on the need.
The cost of care
People dealing with mental health concerns point to the high recurring cost of counselling and the inadequacy of health insurance in covering out-patient sessions and medicines. Singh says that some progressive employers are reimbursing medicines and calls for government support, for at least an initial six to eight sessions. Health insurances have started addressing mental health, adds Shaikh, agreeing that more ground needs to be covered.
It’s everybody’s responsibility to mainstream mental health conversations, says Shaikh, stressing the need to identify early and intervene to treat this “silent struggle”. For instance, older people are faced with loneliness that could push them to take desperate measures, despite being with family. And young people are unable to cope with setbacks. They should be encouraged to play a sport, she says, to understand setbacks, become resilient and make a come-back.
In fact, displaying resilience in all its Olympic glory is American gymnast Simone Biles, who captioned her meditative picture at the arena, saying “mental health matters”. Back after a break, Biles did not just bag gold, but was a picture of resilience, as she put mental health right at the top of the podium.