What is Clinical Psychology and why India needs more expert

Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness, abnormal behaviour, and psychiatric problems. It is an integration of science, theory, and clinical knowledge for understanding, preventing, and boot out psychologically based suffering or dysfunction and to promote individual well-being and personal development. This field assimilates the science of psychology with the treatment of complex human problems ranging from depression, anxiety and eating disorders to severe psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimer.

The Mental Health Care Act 2017 (MHCA) defines ‘mental illness as a “substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behaviour, capacity to recognise reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life, mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs, but does not include mental retardation.” The Act also defines the professionals who are entitled to treat individuals with one or more mental health disorders are psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and mental health nurse. They are responsible in restoring the emotional and mental health of the patients.

The World Health Organization, in 2019, had estimated that 7.5% of Indians going through one or the other mental health condition. It is predicted that this number would prospectively increase significantly in upcoming years due to stressful life, family violence, sexual harassment, unemployment etc.

Mental health is still a taboo is Indian society. Mental health patients are increasing progressively because of lack of awareness and sensitivity for the issue and there is a severe dearth of mental healthcare professionals in India. According to reports from the Indian Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the country needs around 13,000 psychiatrists. To achieve an ideal ratio of psychiatrists to the population is about 1: 8000 to 10,000 but currently has just about 3,500 - which is about one psychiatrist for over two lakh people. With regard to other mental health professionals, the ratio is even worse - the need of Clinical Psychologists is 20,000 and there are only 1000 available; for Psychiatric Social Workers, the requirement is 35,000, but only 900 are available, for Psychiatric Nurses, we need 30,000 and only 1500 are available. According to National Crime Records Bureau 2015, the entire mental health workforce, comprising clinical psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers and psychiatric nurses, stands at 7,000, while the actual requirement is around 55,000. The main reason for this shortage is that many Indian psychiatrists moving abroad for more promising career opportunities. Western countries like the United stated and the United Kingdom have more Indian psychiatrists than in India.

The mental health condition in our country needs active policies and resource apportionment by the government. To reduce the disgrace and humiliation associated with mental health, we need to be aware of the community/society. To make this happen we have to make an unwavering effort to educate society about mental health disorders and its consequences. We need to form a network to connect the patients with the counsellors so that patients can connect with them on a secure platform. Moreover, people undergoing mental health complications should get safe and effective care and the same behaviour and respect from society as those with physical health problems. Additionally, mental illness should also lay down under the realm of life insurance.

Our country need to combat the scarcity of mental health professionals. We need to address mental health issues, by addressing, both demand for and supply of services. India need more experts in the area who can aware, educate and treat the patients with mental disorder, they need to work on ground level, along with the NGOs, government and private sectors to achieve the goal.