Mental Health in India : To be Taboo or Talked?
By: Giver Nutrition
Tags: Nootropics, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health

Let’s start with some numbers, do we know what is the peak productivity for Indians? It is 7 years of their working lives. Expected human capital is basically the number of years a person can work at peak productivity between the ages of 20 and 64. It’s 27 years in the US, and 20 years in China. Our own productivity is so abysmal due to our unhealthy population and our lamentable education system.

When President Ram Nath Kovind delivered the 22nd convocation address at NIMHANS in December 2017, he pointed out that the number of people in India suffering from mental health issues “was greater than the population of Japan”. He warned that India could soon be facing a mental health epidemic — one it doesn’t have the resources to adequately address. Previously, a 2015 ASSOCHAM study indicated that 42.5 percent of employees in the private sector suffer from depression or general anxiety disorder. The stresses of the modern workplace can both cause or exacerbate mental health illnesses among employees.

A 2016 survey of 200,000 professionals employed across 30 Indian firms found that 46 percent reported suffering extreme stress as a consequence of their work. Pressure related to their jobs had caused at-risk individuals to contemplate suicide. A recent ASSOCHAM study conducted on a smaller scale found that professionals reported experiencing workplace fatigue, sleeping disorders and a generally feeling like they had ‘poor health’. Many-a-times, the work environment, pressure or supervisors’ and peers’ behaviour would exacerbate pre-existing mental health issues on the part of vulnerable employees, and their attempts to seek medical help had to either be couched in euphemistic terms (being sick with “viral fever” instead of anxiety) or kept hidden.

Half the employees across banking, financial and startups have said they are struggling to balance between work and personal life, the Hush survey said. “Depression is more than just a low mood — it is a mental health disorder,” she said, adding that out of 9,622 people who took ‘depression test’ at Employee Wellness Program, Employee Assistance Program India | 1to1help, 56% indicated signs of depression.

One out of every five employees of India Inc is suffering from workplace depression, says a new survey, and medical experts blame it on lack of support systems at both workplace and in personal circles.

As many as 22% respondents to the ‘India Employee Survey’ by HR tech startup Hush felt that their productivity is low due to overwork and stress, and more than half of the respondents said they suffered from some kind of workplace depression. The survey covered 3,000 employees from sectors such as IT, manufacturing, financial sector and startups.

Medical professionals back the numbers. “There has been a rise in the number of patients coming from the corporate sector,” said Sameer Parikh, director, Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, at Fortis HealthcareNSE 1.60 %. “This is largely due to lack of support system at workplace and in their personal circles”.

‘Our silent relationship with mental health — Stigma is still strong in India’.

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