One among eight in the world living with a mental health condition, finds Lancet study

“With radical action, we can end stigma and discrimination against people with mental health conditions and their families around the world,” says the report titled The Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health, and highlights recommendations key to achieving this goal. The report was published online at WHO on World Mental Health Day (10 October).

the COVID-19 The pandemic helped highlight the urgent mental health situation around the world. There was an estimated 25 percent increase in the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the first year of the pandemic, according to the report.

However, despite the high incidence of mental health conditions worldwide, related stigma and discrimination are also pervasive, leading to the exclusion of people from society and the denial of basic human rights. , such as employment and educational opportunities and access to health care, including mental health care.

The new report is the result of the work of more than 50 contributors from around the world, including people with lived experience of mental health conditions.

The Commission reviewed the evidence on effective interventions to reduce stigma and called for immediate action from governments, international organizations, employers, health care providers and media organizations, along with active contributions from people with mental health expertise, to work together. to eliminate stigma and mental health. discrimination.

“Many people who have experienced mental health conditions describe the stigma as ‘worse than the condition itself’. There is evidence that we know how to effectively reduce and ultimately eliminate stigma and discrimination. Our commission makes eight evidence-based, practical and radical recommendations for action to free millions of people around the world from social isolation, discrimination and human rights violations caused by stigma around mental health,” he said. Professor Sir Graham, co-chairman of the commission. Thornicroft of King’s College London, in the report.

Co-author Charlene Sunkel, founder and executive director of the Global Mental Health Peer Network, South Africa and a person with expertise in schizophrenia, said in the report: “The covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an increased number of people experiencing mental health conditions. and urgent action is needed to ensure that these people do not also experience the potentially serious consequences of stigma and discrimination. We must empower and support people with lived experiences of mental health conditions to play an active role in stigma reduction efforts, and for this reason, our Commission includes voices that whisper, speak or shout about their experiences in poems, testimonials and quotes.

Thara Rangaswamy, Commissioner of The Lancet and Co-Founder and Vice President of the non-profit Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF), ChennaiHe said that there is still a lot of stigma in India, although it is gradually reducing.

The main problems are that women with severe mental disorders face more stigma as do their families. Stigma is also closely related to marriage and employment that impede social inclusion. Indian media, especially visual media like TV series, continue to portray mental illness in a negative light. In this context, the Lancet Commission’s guidelines and suggestions will prove helpful in challenging these stereotypes and initiating a stigma reduction programme, Rangaswamy said.