Mental health or its absence leads to a host of psychological and psychiatric disorders. Much has been spoken on the impact of Covid on the mental health of children, mainly students who were deprived of social contact and also of teachers who had to manage with online classes while managing their homes. Even healthcare givers had a traumatic time coping with stress due to work pressure. But even without Covid, mental health has been a challenge in Meghalaya. Both MIMHANS and SANKER are struggling with the growing number of mental health patients. Today mental health affects people across all classes, professions and genders. The intrusion of technology in the form of social media has only heightened the emotional disequilibrium of the young. Suicides are on the rise because the youth cannot cope with the burgeoning pressures on the educational and professional fronts.
It is therefore heartening that the State Health Department has come up with a Mental Health Policy which will outline the priority areas and constituents that need greater attention. The rise in substance abuse in Meghalaya calls for a targeted intervention after understanding the underlying reasons. Patients needing psychiatric care are tended to by caregivers and counsellors that are specially trained to be empathetic and patient. It takes a lot out of the caregivers and attention has to be paid to their mental health too. A Policy will also hopefully mean allocating adequate resources for this special area of treatment which is often subsumed under the general health care ambit.
In India there is a huge shortfall of psychologists and psychiatrists. Psychologists focus on behaviour and on tracking the sleeping and eating patterns of patients and the environmental stressors so they can get a grip on the kind of treatment a patient needs. Psychologists study the patient’s mind and emotions and focus primarily on thoughts, feelings and life experiences. Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical doctors who specialise in the study, diagnoses and treatment of mental health. After due diagnosis, psychiatrists prescribe medication. Because they are medical doctors, psychiatrists may work in tandem with primary care physicians or other specialists. In fact, patients are often referred to psychiatrists by their primary care provider. Psychiatrists can also evaluate underlying medical conditions that may contribute to mental illnesses. A Mental Health Policy will hopefully help bring convergence among all mental health care practitioners in the private and government sector and add to the repository of knowledge about this huge medical challenge that is taking a heavy toll across professions. It is said that workplaces with mentally healthy individuals are more productive. But there are also workplaces that are stressful and where individuals struggle with mental health disorders that go undiagnosed for a long time. Now that a Policy is in place there will also be space for more research that will lead to better interventions.
