Attitude Towards Mental Health Services in Indian Population: A Review

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India is responsible for approximately 15% of the world’s cases of mental health disorders, neurological disorders, and drug addiction (‘Mental health in Asia: The numbers’, 2019). These numbers imply a strong need for Mental Health Services (MHS) in India. This study seeks to examine the ‘attitudes toward Mental Health Services’ across the Indian population, including students and Indian males and females living in and outside of India. Another objective is to determine the factors that affect attitudes of individuals toward seeking Mental Health Services. There are 5 survey studies that were identified for review, with an overall sample of 1541 participants. The study found that the Indian population doesn’t exhibit positive attitudes rather shows a negative inclination towards the Mental Health Services. We broadly identified 4 factors associated with negative attitudes in the population: i) gender, especially males were found to have contrasting views about mental health services, ii) lower level of education rate iii) stigma associated with mental health iv) availability of less trained professionals. Thus, India is still lagging behind in understanding these mental health problems, and more specifically, we can remark that it is because there is a lack of awareness that results in reduced use of Mental Health Services.