As defined by WHO, mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.

Two people crawl in two different mental health services. They both have dirt underneath their fingernails from when they clawed their way up, only to find they were still so far beneath a rock bottom, that the air was too stifling to ask for help. One of the people is offered an outstretched hand and a listening ear.

They are given tea with two spoons of sugar just how they like it and all the time in the world to tell their story. The room is as warm as a nurse’s voice and every decision is their own choice. The other person is given a pill bottle, a door that they don’t have the key for, and a meal they don’t like.

When they are treated as a tranquilised problem that needs to stay docile and become more prisoner than participant. In cities, both flourishing and struggling, mental health services are turning away from respect and refusing to look humans right in their eyes. How many times a person can be told they don’t matter before they start believing it?

This is not a problem tucked away in a shadowy part of the world, this is a problem within arm’s reach. There are too few services around the world where people are the heart of the policy.

These places are few and far between, but they are a shining beacon of hope for those who seek help. Where professionals ask instead of tell, where professionals treat the person and not just the symptoms. There are services that have been built by the people who once needed them, and clearly marked maps showcasing how to step back into the community.

Bridging gaps and promoting wellness

Using the WHO definition, mental health promotion can be understood as focusing on encouraging positive mental health and wellbeing for everyone across the lifespan which includes those currently experiencing mental health problems or those at risk of developing mental health problems. [1] [2] 

However, mental health and mental health promotion are often more nuanced and complex than these definitions.

In 2014, concerned over the growing problem of mental health in India, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare entrusted NIMHANS (Bangalore) to study the mental health status in the country. Following which, the first National Mental Health Survey was undertaken during 2015-2016 in 12 states, covering nearly two-thirds of the population of the country.

The National Mental Health Survey (2015–2016) suggested that the overall weighted prevalence for any mental morbidity in India was 13.7% over lifetime and 10.6% at the time of the survey. [3]

An estimated 197.3 million people have mental disorders in India. [4] It is important to note that the economic burden of mental health disorders outweighs other non-communicable diseases. It can be as high as 4% of the gross national product, among which only 2% has been accounted for treating mentally unhealthy people in developing countries. The overall treatment gap for mental health disorders in India is as high as 90%. [3]

After COVID effects

Unfortunately, the situation has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it becomes crucial to take mental health at the forefront of the issues that need to be addressed. [3]

Mehra D et al. (2022)'s study aimed to identify the various community, school, digital, individual, or family-based interventions and their effectiveness in improving the mental health and well-being of adolescents in India. The scoping review, which followed PRISMAScR guidelines, included interventions published from January 2010 to March 2020.

11 interventions were included in this review; 09 were school-based, 01 community, and 01 digital. Most of the school-based programs used a life skills curriculum. Additionally, coping skills and resilience curricula improved depressive symptoms, cognitive abilities, academic stress, problem-solving, and overall mental well-being.

Hence, school-based programs should be implemented as an entry point for screening mental health problems. Additionally, there is a need to address the gap by conducting more interventions for early and out-of-school adolescents. [5]

Life skills intervention in schools of Haryana

Life skills training is a people-centred, planned programming, deliberate, and arranged to alter the anticipated or projected course of development. [6]

LST program was found effective and useful in various studies such as prevention of drug abuse( Botvin, Boker & Botvin, 1984; Botvin & Kahtor, 1999; [7] Pentz, 1983; Wenzel, Weichold & Silbereisen, 2009), reduce cigarette consumption (Gorman, 2002; 2005), [8] prevention of unrestrained sexual behaviour (Pick, Givaundn, Poortinga, 2003; Hutchinson, 2005), HIV prevention (Bova, Burwick & Quinones, 2008), suicide prevention (Lafromboise & Howard-Pitney, 1995), [9] and improved academic achievement (Zins et al, 2007).10 Also, the efficacy of the LST program on the increase of mental health is reported by Sobhi-Gharamaleki, & Rajabi, 2010;9

Learnings

People remember when they are told they are more than an illness. You can be the difference between a life and a body. You can stop another success story from becoming an obituary. So another person doesn’t cry in the shower at the end of the day and try to scrub off abuse from their skin. So they can walk back into society with dignity.

To a life, they thought they forgot they deserved. When human rights are the foundation of health care, you will save more than lives. We will save dreams, memories, passion and purpose. You can stop someone else’s time from running out. We can save thousands more stories if we just act now.