A case for democratisation of mental health
In the event of a global pandemic, and the looming dawn of a post-pandemic era we are made to face some difficult questions; most puzzling of them being how we are to deal with the mental health crisis, the pandemic has created. It is projected that the spike in mental health issues would be unprecedented in the approaching months, with Covid-19 itself having psychological implications. India, which accounts for more than a third of the female suicides globally, nearly a fourth of all male suicides and suicide being the leading cause of death for young Indians even before the pandemic, should take the challenge at hand as an opportunity to revise its policies on mental health. Mental health access should be made democratic through modes of inclusion, updating, and grass-roots activity. The existing mental health infrastructure is deeply biased against several sections of society. The economic, caste and language barriers that exist in the Indian cont...
