Image Source: Getty
This article is part of the essay series “World Mental Health Day 2024”
Estimates suggest that around 15 percent of people in India suffer from some kind of mental health issue. As per the reports in 2017, one in seven Indians suffer from some mental disorder—roughly equating to 197.3 million people. The Mental State of India 2024 report further suggests that the mental well-being in the country is lower in 2023 than it was in 2020 and that mental health was worsening especially for the youths between the age of 18-24. While it is difficult to quantify India’s mental health problem in the absence of recent data, it is clear that the burden of mental health problems is on the rise in the country.
While the Government of India (GoI) has introduced several initiatives aimed at mental health, such as the National Mental Health Policy, 2014, the National Mental Health Policy, 2017, and the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, there continues to be a wide treatment gap. The National Mental Health Survey 2016 estimated the treatment gap for common mental disorders and severe mental disorders to be 85.0 percent and 73.6 percent respectively. The wide treatment gap is caused by to undersupply of services, unequal distribution of mental health resources, and high service costs. People often face many challenges in accessing mental health services due to demography, geography, as well as the stigma associated with mental health conditions.
The National Mental Health Survey 2016 estimated the treatment gap for common mental disorders and severe mental disorders to be 85.0 percent and 73.6 percent respectively.
Digital solutions can be instrumental in bridging this treatment gap due to increased accessibility, affordability, flexibility and increased privacy. The GoI has also introduced several digital health solutions to support mental health including Tele MANAS, the MANAS Mitra, and the KIRAN helpline. This piece discusses the various digital mental health solutions introduced by the government.
KIRAN
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched KIRAN in September 2020 to offer mental health rehabilitation services over the telephone. The helpline aimed to serve as a lifeline to provide first-stage advice and counselling to people in distress undergoing pandemic-induced psychological issues and mental health emergencies. The services are offered in 13 languages and are operational 24/7. The helpline aimed to provide for panic attacks, suicide prevention, anxiety, depression, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder, adjustment disorders, and mental health emergencies. However, there are questions on the efficacy of the helpline with claims suggesting that 37 out of 40 attempts to reach the helpline went unanswered.
MANAS Mitra
The Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System (MANAS) was launched in April 2021 as a platform to enhance the mental well-being of Indians. This is an initiative by the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, GoI and is envisioned as a comprehensive and scalable digital platform aimed to improve the mental well-being of the citizens. The platform aims to integrate the different health and wellness efforts and combines scientific tools with gamified interfaces. The platform acts as a medium to spread awareness about positive mental well-being and disseminate information through webinars, knowledge sharing and live sessions. The app has over 10,000 downloads on Google Play with a rating of 3.1 based on 56 reviews, with several users highlighting technical issues in operating the app and problems with the user interface.
The helpline aimed to serve as a lifeline to provide first-stage advice and counselling to people in distress undergoing pandemic-induced psychological issues and mental health emergencies.
Tele MANAS
In light of the increasing mental health concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Finance Minister during her Budget 2022-23 speech announced the launch of a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ to extend access to quality mental health counselling and care services. The network comprised 23 tele-mental health centres and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), while the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) provided technical support.
Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across State (Tele MANAS) is conceptualised as a comprehensive mental healthcare service aiming to provide universal access to equitable, accessible, affordable and quality mental healthcare 24/7. Tele MANAS aims to scale the reach of mental health services across the country, especially to vulnerable groups.
The calling mechanism for Tele MANAS is illustrated in Figure 1.
Tele MANAS Calling Mechanism
Source: TeleMANAS
The Tele MANAS receives an average of 3,500 calls per day and reached a total of over 10 lakh calls on its platform in May 2024. There has been an increase in the number of people reaching out to the helpline from 12,000 in December 2022 to over 90,000 in May 2024.
Other state-level initiatives
- Karnataka e-Manas: This initiative is a state-level digital registry for persons with mental illnesses and mental health professionals providing several services and functionalities including keeping track of their treatment records.
- Delhi CARES: The helpline was launched in Delhi as a tele-counselling service for students under stress during the pandemic.
- Mansanwad Helpline: This helpline was the first such initiative, launched by the Government of Rajasthan in 2017 for dealing with mental health issues.
- BMC-Mpower 1on1: This helpline was launched in Maharashtra during COVID-19 to alleviate mental health concerns and to provide tele-counselling support from psychiatrists and clinical psychologists.
In addition, several private operators have developed online platforms to support mental health and well-being.
Tele MANAS aims to scale the reach of mental health services across the country, especially to vulnerable groups.
Way forward
The National Mental Health Policy, 2017 highlighted the integral role of technology in healthcare and the significance of digital tools for improving the efficiency and outcome of the healthcare system. The increased digital access provides a valuable opportunity for India to bridge the treatment gap, and there has been an increase in the country. Digital solutions can improve mental health solutions by improving access, quality and affordability. Digital mental health solutions can help conquer challenges such as limited geographical access, stigma associated with mental health and other logistical issues. However, it is necessary to further our efforts and to improve the reach of digital mental health solutions in the country.
Basu Chandola is an Associate Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
PREV
