Speaking at the National Ability Summit (NAS), a virtual event meant to create awareness about disability, mental health professionals spoke about the huge caseload of mental health illnesses in India. 

The point of discussion at the summit was ‘Building better mental health solutions (non-clinical)’

Prakriti Poddar, Managing Director of Poddar Wellness, described it as an “invisible illness” for which there isn’t a defined set of community, whom it’ll attack. Also, people in India’s smaller towns and cities cannot find practitioners, panel moderator Sandhya Menon, pointed out, adding that even in the larger cities, it’s accessible to the “English-speaking, who can pay.”

Iterating her own struggle with mental health issues, Mansi Dholakia, CEO of Indian Wellness Association, said no amount of achievements matter when you are at a low point in your life. 

“What matters is your internal strength and no one teaches you that,” she added.

Prakriti, who has a mental health centre in Mumbai, pointed out how “people often feel embarrassed to come to the centre.”

“The stigma is so high,” she added.

Then what is the way to deal with the situation?

Tasneem Raju, who works in the field of mental health at Tata, opined that if we build such inclusive spaces where the community can look after its own, then mental health can be addressed effectively. 

“The thing I’m working on is the way to democratise mental health as there is no way that the medical population can deal with the massive upsurge in mental health illnesses,” said Prakriti.

She also pointed out that she works with children from grade two to not only identify issues but to also provide support.

But, “when you train and retrain teachers and principals, you see stigma (around mental health) fall significantly,” she said.

“If the gatekeepers of youth, understand what mental health conversations and treatment is, I think that in itself will take about 80% of our problems,” she added.

According to Mansi, there is a pyramid model to deal with the issue, in which children, parents and teachers are equally important and not much change will happen if only children are trained.

The first edition of the National Ability Summit is underway in India, on Wednesday and Thursday. It is spearheaded by Varija Life, a Not for Profit Organisation under fashion and lifestyle brand Varija Bajaj.

Throughout the event, there will be several panel discussions, in which people across fields would discuss issues faced by the differently-abled community and the need to create awareness.

The topics of discussion at the summit include Employment and Human Resource for People with Disabilities (PWD), Assistive Technology, Mental Health, Adaptive Clothing, Art and Films for and by PWD, Digital Accessibility, Infrastructural Accessibility and Startups focusing on mental and physical needs of PWD.

The main focus of the NAS is to provide a platform to world leaders from government bodies, educational institutions, health institutions, private and public sectors to share their learning curve and collectively draw a 360-degree approach to address physical and mental health for the global community at large.