To discuss about the urgent need of integrating mental health care services with public health in India

Issue: In spite of Mental Illness constituting nearly one sixth of all health-related disorders, and increase in number of suicide, stress level, low level of tolerance, India is still lacking in understanding Mental Health as a major Public Health challenge. Hence, its integration in Public Health programs is very slow.

Description: With the increase of technological advancement, there is increase in Common Mental Disorders like Depression, Anxiety, and Psychosomatic Disorders etc. The suicide rate has also increased at an alarming rate especially amongst students and farmers in India. Unfortunately, the rate at which the Mental Health problem is increasing, the services to curb these problems are not increasing at the same rate and there is still a wide gap between the need of number of Mental Health Care Providers versus the actual number of providers. The awareness about mental health is slowly increasing in metro cities. The acceptance of Mental Illness is very low in rural population due to low level of awareness about Mental Health, and hence high level of stigma and discrimination for Mental Illness.

Lessons Learnt: Including the topic of Mental Health in Public Health curricula is the need of the hour to sensitize the Public Health Experts.

Recommendations: Integrating Mental Health in Public Health requires commitment from government as well as community. The organizations can select surrounding communities and conduct parallel programs of Mental Health Awareness and Training and Capacity Building of Health Care providers working at Community Level.