Bengaluru: The number of people with mental illnesses has grown over the past ten years, said State Health Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar on Friday December 9.
Speaking at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences’ (NIMHANS) Brain Health Initiative event, he said, “A person can only be regarded completely healthy if his or her mental health is also good. Since the last year, there have been a rising number of persons experiencing neurological and mental health problems.
The Minister informed the gathering that statistics show that seven to eight per cent of deaths are related to brain and mental health problems.
He further said that a person’s fluctuating mental health might have bad impacts on both his physical and social well-being.
Through the T-MANAS Tele-counseling platform, the Indian government is running a national campaign against mental illness.
He said that the previous E-Manas platform launched by Karnataka served as the foundation for the T-Manas platform introduced by the Central Government.
The State Government is already implementing a pilot project with NIMHANS’ aid in the rural districts of Chikkaballapura, Kolar and Bengaluru. A plan has also been developed to make this service available throughout the entire state in the coming days, he said.
Three months of counselling and mental health issue treatment training are provided to Primary Health Center clinicians. ASHA employees, community health officials, auxiliary nurses, and midwives will all receive counselling and medical training in the coming days, Sudhakar added.
