The cost of Emotional Health

 

One might find it obvious that there are plenty of benefits of emotional well being. But what is the cost of emotional health. Where is the economics? So let us take a step back and take a macro view. And since I am going macro, I am going to take the broader gambit of Mental health. According to WHO, mental health is a state of well-being in which individuals realize their abilities, cope with normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully and make contribution to their communities.

By that extension,  mental health is the state of being happy, healthy and comfortable in an environment where one gets opportunity and safe space to recognize their strengths and weakness without bias or judgment to develop better  coping skills, increased productivity and higher contribution to society.

Environment is an important factor in mental health and the most commonly discussed factors are physical environment factors and social environment factors. My mother in law is a live example of this. She had suffered from lung problems for quite some time and over the past couple of years her situation had only deteriorated. However when we shifted to Bangalore she  traveled with us, and to our pleasant surprise, her health improved. She, who was once bed ridden and dependent on aide for everything, started now going for walks and working around the house, doing what she loved, cooking for us. Social environment, is something that I have been discussing in my previous blogs, history of child abuse, toxic relations, early loss of parent etc.

However another very important factor that needs equal attention is the economic factor. While researching on the topic, I came across a report on gap in India’s medical health budget. As a lay person, it was the first time I heard that India had a National Mental Health programme. Interesting the programme outlines clear objectives to combat mental health issues in the country.

It talks about availability and accessibility of ‘minimum’ health care facilities, encourages application of mental health knowledge, increase community participation and develop human infra in the field.

All in good faith. However I was equally drawn by the news in the Hindubusinessline.com. The news reported the annual cost to implement Mental Healthcare Act would be close to 94000 crores according to Indian Journal of Psychiatry whereas the government budget stands at 40 crores, making it practically impossible to run any effective program.

This combined with a study by Indian Council of Medical Research, Lancet Psychiatry states that one in 7 Indians are suffereing from mental disorder. So if we go by numbers, at any given point of time 19 crores Indian are suffering from mental disorder.

To make matters worse,  India  was at dismal 144 out of 156 countries reviewed if we look at Happiness Index, and this was pre pandemic. Pandemic cost would have just added fuel to fire

But why am I telling you all this. Because, even when we realized compromised state of our population there is little we can do till the government takes an active interest in the welfare of mental and emotional health. One can only count the direct cost of  unmet mental health needs. However the indirect cost are not just bigger in number, they pose a threat to society in the long run.

Time hasn’t run out and its time we do a cost benefit analysis. We have good head on our shoulders, just need to ensure that we give it proper nutrition to get the system running.

 

Follow Nupur Dwivedi https://nupurdwivedipandey.blogspot.com/