Abstract

According to World Health Organization, India has one of the largest populations affected from mental illness. India is looking at a mental health crisis, with suicide-related deaths as its lead indicator. Suicide is reportedly the second leading cause of non-coronavirus deaths in India during the lockdown and has become a more pressing concern as the pandemic spreads and preventing it therefore needs an urgent consideration.

The distribution of infections and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown and associated measures, and the longer-term socioeconomic impact are likely to reproduce and intensify the financial inequalities that contribute towards the increased prevalence and unequal distribution of mental ill-health. The 2016 National Mental Health survey reveals the lowest income groups were the most vulnerable when it comes to mental disorders. Now amid the pandemic, when they are also the economically worst hit most media reported suicided deaths are of migrant workers resorting to self harm out of financial desperation.

In the midst of great uncertainty, people of India look to their government for leadership. The psychological virus emergency is a painful reminder that reform within the mental health care sector is long late. The worldwide pandemic has thrown a focus on the vulnerabilities rose from structural discrimination, practices of isolation and discrimination legislation. And there exist a dire need to address the social injustice down the social gradient. Public health authorities have the responsibility to ensure all citizens of the country, mental healthcare. We are only as strong as the most vulnerable in our community.

Keywords: Mental Health; Social Stigma; Social Gradient; Yoga; Covid 19

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Citation

Citation: Joise P. “Social Gradient in the Shadow of Coronavirus Pandemic: India as World's Most Depressing Country is Far Behind the Mission of Tackling the Mental Health Crisis".Acta Scientific Neurology 3.9 (2020): 53-55.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Joise P. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.