What is a Mental illness and do we Indians suffer from Mental illness?

• Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.
• Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a medical problem, just like heart disease or diabetes.
• Please note any one of us, irrespective of age, gender, caste, ethnicity, socio-economic status etc can suffer from Mental illness at any point of our life.
• How Common Are Mental Illnesses Globally?
• According to World Health Organization (WHO), One in four people in the world are affected by mental disorders at some point in their lives. i.e. around One Billion people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.
• Do we Indians suffer from Mental illness?
• According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017 by Lancet;in 2017, 197 million people had mental disorders in India.
• e. One in seven Indians were affected by mental disorders of varying severity in 2017.
• The proportional contribution of mental disorders to the total disease burden in India has almost doubled since 1990.
• We have less than 10 thousand registered Psychiatrist, available in the country to treat this huge magnitude of mental illness.