Higher Prevalence of Mental Disorders in South India. Rudra ☺️☺️☺️

Part of :- GS paper ll - Issues related to disability 

Context :

Recently, a study by the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative was published in the Lancet Psychiatry.

This is the first comprehensive estimate of disease burden due to mental disorders and their trends in every state of India from 1990.

Most Common Mental Disorder :

Depression and anxiety disorders are the commonest mental disorders in India. Their prevalence is increasing and is relatively higher in the southern states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) and in females.

Depression accounted for 33.8% of all mental disorder DALYs in India in 2017, followed by anxiety disorders (19%), idiopathic developmental intellectual disability (10.8%) and schizophrenia (9.8%).

Roughly one in seven Indians or 197 million people suffered from mental disorders of varying severity in 2017.

These include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, idiopathic developmental intellectual disability, conduct disorders, and autism.

High SDI Group: Prevalence of depressive disorders was highest in Tamil Nadu. Anxiety disorders were found to be more common in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra in the high SDI State group.

There is an urgent need to strengthen mental health services, integrate these with general healthcare and remove barriers such as stigma and access to treatment.

The high rate of depression among older adults needs attention through wider efforts in the community and health system.

Health officials should have an accurate accounting of how depression, anxiety and other mental disorders are distributed across the country.