As Jiah Khan's suicide shows, expenditure on mental healthcare is minimal
Jiah Khan, a 25-year old Bollywood actress, who committed suicide by hanging herself made news as she was in the show business. While ordinary victims of suicide become statistics, celebrities who kill themselves become the talk of the town. Earlier show business stars like Guru Dutt, Parveen Babi, Nafisa Joseph, ‘Silk’ Smitha, and the legendary Hollywood celebrity Marilyn Monroe also took their lives. Why did these rich and famous celebrities take such a drastic step?
According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, India records one of the highest suicide rates in the world, with 1.7 lakh victims every year. Over half the total suicides among women and 40 per cent of suicides among men in India are between the ages of 15 and 29 years.
Jiah Khan, began her career in filmdom with two high profile movies, ‘Nishabd’ and ‘Ghajini’; she was also a part of the multi-starrer ‘Housefull’. She appeared to have had a promising career ahead of her, or so we thought. Why did she then kill herself?
Suicide is synonymous with speculation. Did Jiah suffer from depression? If that was so, was it due to personal or professional reasons? It is believed that she was dissatisfied with her romantic relationship and the roles that she was offered in forthcoming films. Speculation is also rife that she was indeed suffering from depression for a short while. Did she receive appropriate help if that was the case? We cannot be sure but mental health issues, to a large extent, are still a taboo topic in Indian society. It is still looked down upon as a strict no-no, a subject which does not attract much debate in the public domain. One of the main causes of suicide is depression- or what we would generally consider as feeling low or down-and-out. However, depression is not just ‘feeling blue’. All people tend to feel sad sometimes but most are able to move on from that feeling to a more positive state of mind. A depressed person stays with the sadness for a longer period of time and his/her mood also affects and disrupts his/her day-to-day life.
Global statistics regarding the subject are quite revealing. They show that depression affects one in five women and one in 10 men at some point in their lives. Depression is, therefore, a serious public health concern. However in the case of India, there is still a social stigma attached to approaching a mental health professional for help. It need not be so; depression is an illness like any other. If you had diabetes, would you not see a doctor? How does one distinguish an onset of depression from feeling sad or ‘blue’? Some of the symptoms of depression are a prolonged feeling of sadness over a period of more than two weeks, loss of sleep or sleeping more than usual, reduced or increased appetite, irritability, loss of pleasure in normal activities and generally decreased energy levels.
However, the good news is that depression can be treated. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association classifies depression into different types. According to Dr Chittaranjan Andrade, head, Department of Psychopathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, (NIMHANS), Bangalore, the treatment for depression would vary depending on the type of depression. Treatment usually includes medication and/or psychotherapy.
Today two crore- or about 20 million - Indians suffer from mental illnesses, but between them there are only 3,500 psychiatrists and 1,500 psychiatric nurses to take care of their needs. Otherwise India has only one psychiatrist for every 400,000 people – one of the lowest ratios anywhere in the world. Not surprisingly, the country’s health care budget spends less than one percent on mental healthcare, which is shocking to say the least.
As responsible citizens, we take initiatives to help people suffering from cancer or other physical illnesses. A cancer survivor will be heard and appreciated by many but can we say the same for a survivor of depression? Does he or she get a platform to speak about what they went through or are going through?
Jiah Khan, a 25-year old Bollywood actress, who committed suicide by hanging herself made news as she was in the show business. While ordinary victims of suicide become statistics, celebrities who kill themselves become the talk of the town. Earlier show business stars like Guru Dutt, Parveen Babi, Nafisa Joseph, ‘Silk’ Smitha, and the legendary Hollywood celebrity Marilyn Monroe also took their lives. Why did these rich and famous celebrities take such a drastic step?
According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, India records one of the highest suicide rates in the world, with 1.7 lakh victims every year. Over half the total suicides among women and 40 per cent of suicides among men in India are between the ages of 15 and 29 years.
Jiah Khan, began her career in filmdom with two high profile movies, ‘Nishabd’ and ‘Ghajini’; she was also a part of the multi-starrer ‘Housefull’. She appeared to have had a promising career ahead of her, or so we thought. Why did she then kill herself?
Suicide is synonymous with speculation. Did Jiah suffer from depression? If that was so, was it due to personal or professional reasons? It is believed that she was dissatisfied with her romantic relationship and the roles that she was offered in forthcoming films. Speculation is also rife that she was indeed suffering from depression for a short while. Did she receive appropriate help if that was the case? We cannot be sure but mental health issues, to a large extent, are still a taboo topic in Indian society. It is still looked down upon as a strict no-no, a subject which does not attract much debate in the public domain. One of the main causes of suicide is depression- or what we would generally consider as feeling low or down-and-out. However, depression is not just ‘feeling blue’. All people tend to feel sad sometimes but most are able to move on from that feeling to a more positive state of mind. A depressed person stays with the sadness for a longer period of time and his/her mood also affects and disrupts his/her day-to-day life.
Global statistics regarding the subject are quite revealing. They show that depression affects one in five women and one in 10 men at some point in their lives. Depression is, therefore, a serious public health concern. However in the case of India, there is still a social stigma attached to approaching a mental health professional for help. It need not be so; depression is an illness like any other. If you had diabetes, would you not see a doctor? How does one distinguish an onset of depression from feeling sad or ‘blue’? Some of the symptoms of depression are a prolonged feeling of sadness over a period of more than two weeks, loss of sleep or sleeping more than usual, reduced or increased appetite, irritability, loss of pleasure in normal activities and generally decreased energy levels.
However, the good news is that depression can be treated. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association classifies depression into different types. According to Dr Chittaranjan Andrade, head, Department of Psychopathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, (NIMHANS), Bangalore, the treatment for depression would vary depending on the type of depression. Treatment usually includes medication and/or psychotherapy.
Today two crore- or about 20 million - Indians suffer from mental illnesses, but between them there are only 3,500 psychiatrists and 1,500 psychiatric nurses to take care of their needs. Otherwise India has only one psychiatrist for every 400,000 people – one of the lowest ratios anywhere in the world. Not surprisingly, the country’s health care budget spends less than one percent on mental healthcare, which is shocking to say the least.
As responsible citizens, we take initiatives to help people suffering from cancer or other physical illnesses. A cancer survivor will be heard and appreciated by many but can we say the same for a survivor of depression? Does he or she get a platform to speak about what they went through or are going through?
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