Why Mental Wellbeing Deserves More Attention To Combat The Current Socio-Economic Change?

Unemployment, low income, poverty, debt, and poor housing are correlational to how a person's psychological and emotional state is.

Pandemic has hit the Indian economy as well the global economy negatively. It is important to note that there is growing evidence linking economic inequality and poor mental health. Unemployment, low income, poverty, debt, and poor housing are correlational to how a person's psychological and emotional state is. Just as the socio-economic status affects your mental state, your mental state, in turn, affects your socio-economic status. WHO reported an estimated 4.4% of the world population to be suffering from some form of mental illness. The cost of diagnosing and treating them, i.e., direct cost associated with mental disorders is USD 0.8 trillion. The indirect cost i.e. loss of income, lower productivity, absence from work has resulted in losses amounting to USD 1.7 trillion, which is clearly much higher in comparison.

‘Presenteeism' can help us better understand how mental health, not just impacts one individual but the economy as a whole. It can be defined as being physically present but psychologically absent. Coming to work even when you are physically or mentally sick is somewhat celebrated. You push yourself to appear strong but in performance terms, the capacity to work and presence of mind depletes substantially. This when done over a period of time by multiple employees results in a considerable impact on the economic output of the firm. Tackling presenteeism and allowing an individual to heal and recover is important to avoid the effects it can have on work-related outcomes. This example effectually brings into perspective the effect mental health can have on the economy of a nation.

Post Covid-19, the world, as we knew has changed. The effect of the pandemic has affected the lives of each and every individual globally. It is important to assess the mental health of the people, especially in developing countries such as India, where socio-economic factors only increase the risk of dysfunction of the healthcare system. As Mental health concerns usually take a back seat when the already limited resources are being fully or over-utilized during a pandemic. But if there is one thing this pandemic and the following global lockdown has taught us, is that mental health cannot be put on the side burner. Each individual that faces unemployment, poverty, or loss of income, is an unproductive contributor to the economy, and if we add up the numbers then the economy as a whole is being impacted on a large scale. The need of the hour is to acknowledge that socioeconomic status is also a factor to consider while studying mental health because these are the factors that largely affect the economy as a whole and not just the individual who is suffering from these problems.

The National Mental Health Program (NMHP) was launched in 1982 to provide mental health services as part of the general healthcare system. Though it has helped people community-level it has failed on a larger level because of a lack of proper infrastructure and social acceptance. The role of communities to de- stigmatize mental illnesses and support mental health initiatives is important. The Government annually allocates funds to Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health and NIMHANS, both fall under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The problem, NIMHANS operates only out of one city and is unable to benefit a larger population. Therefore, the way forward for India is to first - acknowledge how big of a problem mental health is, and its correlation to how our economy performs, and second - to make an affordable mental healthcare system available on a national level.

“A society that invests in the mental well-being of its population will, in turn, benefit from it financially.”