Understanding The Connection Between Mental Health And Poverty In India

By Author: Akshay Shetty
Total Articles: 1
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Mental health is the foundation of one’s well-being and functioning. Various social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors play a vital role in support of mental health. The healthcare sector in India faces a lack of access to quality services that help maintain mental well-being. Various healthcare NGOs in India are coming up with innovative ideas to identify the root causes of such challenges.
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are recognized by governments as a non-profit which plays an important role as advocates, providers of services, activists, and researchers on various issues pertaining to human and social development. The NGOs organise campaigns, events, and workshops to raise awareness of the importance of mental wellness among other causes. They strive to be the place where people can safely open up about their mental issues.
Healthcare in rural India
The health statistics in rural India continue to be poor. The access to proper healthcare facilities among urban slum dwellers has surfaced to be deplorable. The slum dwellers face adverse health conditions due to mainly two ...
... reasons – lack of education and lack of awareness. Their unwillingness to lose a day’s wage to reach the nearest medical facility remains unaddressed. Quality healthcare services should be brought to the doorsteps of the needy. Awareness regarding such services should be in a timely manner.
Poverty in India
In terms of population, India ranks second after China. India is the seventh largest country in the world with an area of ​​3,287,000 km². Although there is a tremendous decrease in the all-India poverty ratio in the last decade, it is a much-debated issue. Many of the people that come in this ratio live in the countryside and they keep themselves afloat with odd jobs. Millions of people that reside in the slums face many issues like insufficient drinking water supply, garbage disposal, and electricity. Many diseases like cholera, tuberculosis, and dysentery, especially in children, are caused due to these poor unhygienic conditions.
Mental health and Poverty
Poverty affects mental health through various mechanisms of social and biological factors.
Affects social life
When people are diagnosed with mental illness, their performance or rather behaviour at work and at social gatherings decreases. And with the unavailability of proper treatment, such individuals continue to suffer in silence. They hardly interact or participate at work or mingle with family and friends.
Hard to reach out for help
Our society has conditioned a few percent of people to look down upon those who show mental health decline or have been diagnosed with a mental condition. Such individuals are then least likely to get proper treatment or just help in general. This issue worsens when seen from the other side of society – poverty.
People in poverty or below the poverty line face aggravated mental illness due to a lack of employment and income. They do not have the necessities for survival from mental disorders such as depression or anxiety, which can develop and intensify over time. The stigma which is attached to mental illness is among many reasons individuals with such issues are reluctant to seek help.
Cost of treatment
Another important factor is the cost of treatment which deters them. To help such individuals or communities, an NGO for healthcare and other entities have been stepping in as mental healthcare providers. They are reaching out to people who suffer from mental disorders. NGOs are driven by their passion for a cause, which they back up with efforts and commitment.

Good healthcare service is the basic human and fundamental right of all the country’s citizens. With the advancing medical sector, the emphasis on diagnosis and proper treatment of mental illness should be the utmost priority. The lack of development or excess financial crunches should not hinder an individual’s right to live a healthy and safe life.