Mental health was never seen as an important issue till a decade ago, but then, luckily it is being accepted as a subject because it has started affecting a lot of families.
As we grow older, the grey cells also age, but then what has mental health got to do with ageing?
The larger point of debate is, how do we help those who are unable to help themselves. How do we help those who keep repeating the same mistakes simply because they have mental health issues and are stuck in the web of mind games?
When the mind has a mind of its own and is in constant conflict with the positive mind then it is a recipe for mental health problems.
While Physical disability is visible and people can see it, but then the mental disability is difficult for people to understand and even more difficult to explain, which in my opinion is a bigger challenge.
Most people are mentally stable but then there is a small percentage of the population who keeps struggling with the uncontrollable mental circus 24x7. It is not that they are not aware of the problem but then mental pain is something which is completely different from the physical pain.
Last year I got an opportunity to visit a residential facility for people with mental health problems, the reality was very different. The people were amazing, it's just that they could not tame their mind due to which they were helpless and needed support.
As we grow older, our mental faculties tend to get impacted, and to top it up if one has issues like bipolar or dementia or both, then it is a dangerous combination.
As a country we are gradually growing in the old age care sector, however we also need to work on addressing the need for improving mental health support facilities especially in cases of mental imbalances and impact of social isolation.
Depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, dementia are real issues. The larger question is, are we equipped to cater to this sub-set of people who probably require more help than others?
Dependent children or dependent older people have the same needs. Family support is one thing but then, what are we doing at the institutional level to help those people who don't have the support structure?
Pankaj Mehrotra