Walk-A-Thone

World Mental Health Day observed

·     PU NSS department, Faith Hospital hold ‘walk-a-thon’

·     Need to de-stigmatize mental illness

·     About 20% of Indians affected by mental issues

CHANDIGARH, October 10: The National Service Scheme of the Panjab University in association with the Faith Hospital, Chandigarh organized a ‘walk-a-thon’ to mark World Mental Health Day today. 

The walk-a-thon started from the Sukhna Lake and after passing through the Rock Garden, concluded back at the Sukhna Lake. Hundreds from different walks of life participated in the ‘walk-a-thon’.

Mr Rajiv Gupta, Chief Administrator of Greater Mohali Development Authority (GMADA) was the Chief Guest on the occasion who flagged off the ‘walk-a-thon’. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gupta congratulated the NSS and the Faith Hospital for organizing the special event to mark the day.

He said, that with the rapid urbanization and fast pace of life, more and more people were having mental issues. He observed that de-stigmatizing mental health issues and treating them like any other illness was very important. 

Mr Gupta called for greater awareness about mental health issues and observed that such events like a ‘walk-a-thon’ today would definitely help in creating awareness about mental health issues.

Dr Damanjit Kaur, Director of Faith Hospital Chandigarh, which, among other things, provides compassionate mental healthcare, said that mental health issues were becoming more common. Quoting some recent studies, she disclosed that about 20 percent of Indians were affected by mental health issues in one way or the other. 

She disclosed that the latest surveys suggest that the prevalence of current mental morbidity was found higher in males as compared to females for both current (13.9% vs. 7.5%) and lifetime (16.7% vs. 10.8%). 

The age group of 40-49 years (14.5 %) had the highest prevalence, while urban metro residents (14.7%) had a higher prevalence for current experience of mental morbidity. The mental morbidity rates decreased as the education status increased, she added.

Dr Damanjit said the most frequent mental disorders, current prevalence, among adolescents were anxiety disorders and mood disorders. Among the elderly population, over 15% above 60 years old suffer from mental health problems worldwide. Depression affects up to 7% of the population, while dementia affects 5% of the older population, and anxiety disorder affects 3.8% of the older population.

In Punjab, the overall lifetime prevalence of mental morbidity was 17.94% and the current mental morbidity was 13.42%, higher than the national average. One out of eight Punjabis is suffering from mental illness and 80% of Punjabis are not getting any access to treatment.

The higher prevalence of alcohol (7.9%) and substance abuse (2.4%) are the major factors for the higher prevalence of mental morbidity in Punjab. According to the Magnitude of Substance Abuse survey (2019), every second male in Punjab abused alcohol, 50%.

Prominent among those present included Mr. D N V Kumara Guru, Senior Director, Advancement, Alumni Engagement and External Relations at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali, Mr. Parveen Goyal, Associate Professor at Mechanical Engineering Department, UIET, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Prof. Namita Gupta, Prof. Shankar Sehgal, Dr. Naveen Kumar, and Dr. Manish Sharma.