Therapy is a word popularised and normalised in the recent air of self-care and self-love activism. Even though it is a word fairly heard in urban households, especially among Gen Z and millennial crowds, really how accessible is it? From calling a friend or a partner a “therapist” and treating them as such. Even the “woke” youth sometimes forget that a licensed therapist is a trained professional and is in many ways different from talking to your friend at 3am.
Why is it that the need for professional psychological help is only considered when worse comes to worst and it finally feels like no amount of dealing with it on our own is going to help.
Accessibility to therapy is something that is not talked about enough. Even if we tell someone to go see a therapist, how likely is it that an Indian teenager dependent on their parents will be able to ask for help?
The first challenge comes from home. The shame that South Asian households have held for a long time around mental health issues. The ability to convince the family to seek therapy is usually a very big achievement for many. Even after a supportive family environment, the monetary cost of therapy deters many from ever giving it a serious thought. The fact that therapy requires many sessions spanned over months and sometimes years, and the amount of money that is required to seek treatment leaves many people who cannot afford to pay for it without any help. It keeps them from treating their mental illnesses.
Making therapy a very privileged form of health care. Health care, something that should be accessible to all, remains to this day, available only to a few.
There are real ways to deal with this issue, making mental health support available at all schools and colleges for free. Students find it easier to approach someone at school or college than at home for their mental health problems. Therapy at minimal costs should be made available to people.
There are some organizations and companies working on this.
Mindpeers is one such platform.
MindPeers matches people to specialised, qualified therapists at just Rs 300 per session.
MindPeers was founded in January 2020 in New Delhi with a simple vision of making mental wellness, especially therapy, affordable, accessible and most importantly, qualitative for consumers and organizations. From diagnosing yourself real time to getting the right qualified and specialist therapist for your needs; Mindpeers has an end-to-end mental wellness platform.
Many experts also suggest that a budget should be allotted for mental health. Every year, budget allocations towards mental health are decreasing, being reduced even further. In 2010, the District Mental Health Programme’s budget was 0.44 per cent of the total budget allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). In 2020, it is 0.06 percent. Mental health experts say this time the government should prioritize allocation of budget for mental healthcare in the Union Budget 2021. The budget for Mental Health in India should be increased to `5,000crore or at least five percent of the India’s healthcare budget, as the approximate cost of implementing the mental healthcare Act is around `95,000crore, and the current budget is nowhere close to that assessed by Indian Journal of Psychiatry.
Many changes can come to the current landscape of mental health care in India if only everyone
collectively starts taking mental health care seriously. It is also essential that no one is left behind in being treated for psychological illnesses and disorders. Providing accessible Mental Health Care should be considered a priority not just by organizations and academic institutions but also by the Government.
- Chaitanya Nair
“Experts Suggest Ways in Which Budget Should Be Allocated for Mental Health.” The New Indian Express, 31 Jan. 2021, www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2021/jan/31/experts-suggest-ways-in-which-budget-should-be-allocated-for-mental-heath-2257274.html.
Choudhury, Disha Roy. “This 28-Year-Old Woman Is Running a Mental Health Platform for Specialised Therapy at Rs 300 Only.” The Indian Express, 29 July 2020, indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/female-entrepreneur-mental-health-platform-specialised-therapy-india-affordability-6526138.