Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mental Health in India: Perspectives for Psychosomatic Medicine

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Psychosomatic Medicine

  • 814 Accesses

Abstract

India has seen tremendous advancements in the field of mental health over the past decades. Yet, India, the world’s second most populated country, continues to contribute disproportionately to the global burden of disease compared to the other middle-income and neighbouring countries. According to the National Survey of Mental Health Resources, a striking deficit of 77% psychiatrists, 97% clinical psychologists and 90% social workers was reported against a standard reference of 1 psychiatrist, 1.5 clinical psychologists and 2 social workers per 100,000 persons. The high demand for mental health services and the overcrowding of medical facilities in India increase the possibility that the mental health element contributing to somatization may go untreated by medical practitioners.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Literature

  • Andrade LH, Alonso J, Mneimneh Z, et al. Barriers to mental health treatment: results from the WHO World Mental Health surveys. Psychol Med. 2014;44:1303–17.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bode M, editor. Traditional Indian Medicine. IIAS – The Newsletter. 2013;65(2):16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaturvedi SK, Goswami K. Feasibility of diagnostic criteria for psychosomatic research in India: a pilot qualitative evaluation. Psychother Psychosom. 2012;81:320–1. https://doi.org/10.1159/000337361.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chaturvedi SK, Michael A. Psychosomatic disorders in psychiatric patients in a developing country. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 1988;34(2):123–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/002076408803400206.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deb KS, Tuli A, Sood M, Chadda R, Verma R, Kumar S, Singh P. Is India ready for mental health apps (MHApps)? A quantitative-qualitative exploration of caregivers’ perspective on smartphone-based solutions for managing severe mental illnesses in low resource settings. PLoS One. 2018;13(9):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203353.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fava GA, Freyberger HJ, Bech P, Christodoulou G, Sensky T, Theorell T, Wise TN. Diagnostic criteria for use in psychosomatic research. Psychother Psychosom. 1995;63:1–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg DP, Williams P. A user’s guide to the general health questionnaire. NFER-Nelson: Windsor; 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kermode M, Bowen K, Arole S, Joag K, Jorm AF. Community beliefs about causes and risks for mental disorders: a Mental Health Literacy Survey in a rural area of Maharashtra, India. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2010;56(6):606–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764009345058.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Khandelwal SK, Jhingan HP, Ramesh S, Gupta RK, Srivastava VK. India mental health country profile. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2004;16(1–2):126–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540260310001635177.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lok Sabha Secreatriat. Reference Note No. 33/RN/Ref./December/ 2013 Mental Health Care. New Delhi: Parliament Library and Reference, Research, Documentation and Information Service (LARRDIS): Government of India; 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of AYUSH, GOI. AYUSH in India – Introduction. 2019a. http://ayush.gov.in/ayush-india-0. Accessed 9 Jan 2019.

  • Ministry of AYUSH, GOI. AYUSH RESEARCH PORTAL – Evidence Based Research Data of AYUSH Systems at Global Level. 2019b. http://ayushportal.nic.in/. Accessed 21 Nov 2018.

  • Murthy RS. Mental health initiatives in India (1947–2010). Natl Med J India. 2011;24(2):26–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • NITI Aayog. National Institution for Transforming India, Government of India. 2019. https://www.niti.gov.in/. Accessed 13 Jan 2019.

  • Nizamie SH, Akthar S, Banerjee I, Goyal N. Health care delivery model in epilepsy to reduce treatment gap: World Health Organization study from a rural tribal population of India. Epilepsy Res. 2009;84:146–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel V, Prince M. Ageing and mental health in a developing country: who cares? Qualitative studies from Goa. India Psychol Med. 2001;31:29–38.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patel V, Pereira J, Coutinho L, Fernandes R. Is the labelling of common mental disorders as psychiatric illness clinically useful in primary care? Indian J Psychiatry. 1997;39(3):239–46.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Patel V, Pereira J, Mann AH. Somatic and psychological models of common mental disorder in primary care in India. Psychol Med. 1998;28:135–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patel V, Chisholm D, Rabe-Hesketh S, Dias-Saxena F, Andrew G, Mann A. The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a drug and psychological treatment for common mental disorders in general health care in Goa, India: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2003;361:33–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel V, Weiss HA, Chowdhary N, Naik S, Pednekar S, Chatterjee S, Kirkwood BR. Effectiveness of an intervention led by lay health counsellors for depressive and anxiety disorders in primary care in Goa, India (MANAS): a cluster randomised controlled trial. The Lancet. 2010;376:2086–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61508-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel V, Parikh R, Nandraj S, Balasubramaniam P, Narayan K, Paul VK, Reddy KS. Assuring health coverage for all in India. The Lancet. 2015;386(10011):2422–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00955-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel V, Xiao S, Chen H, Hanna F, Jotheeswaran AT, Luo D, Saxena S. The magnitude of and health system responses to the mental health treatment gap in adults in India and China. The Lancet. 2016;388(10063):3074–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00160-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudra S, Kalra A, Kumar A, Joe W. Utilization of alternative systems of medicine as health care services in India: evidence on AYUSH care from NSS 2014. PLOS One. 2017;12(5):e0176916. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176916.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ruhil R. Medical Pluralism in India and Its Integration into State Health Services System. AYUSHDHARA (An International Journal of Research in AYUSH and Allied Systems). 2015;2(5):7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samal J. Situational analysis and future directions of AYUSH: An assessment through 5-year plans of India. J Intercult Ethnopharmacol. 2015a;4(4):348–54. https://doi.org/10.5455/jice.20151101093011.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Samal J. Role of AYUSH workforce, therapeutics, and principles in health care delivery with special reference to National Rural Health Mission. AYU (An International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda). 2015b;36(1):5. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8520.169010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sax W. Ritual healing and mental health in India. Transcult Psychiatry. 2014;51(6):829–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461514524472.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shankar D, Patwardhan B. AYUSH for New India: Vision and strategy. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. 2017;8(3):137–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaim.2017.09.001.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shankar R, Rao K. From burden to empowerment: the journey of family caregivers in India. In: Sartorius N, Leff J, LĂłpez-Ibor JJ, Maj M, Okasha A, editors. Families and mental disorders. Chichester: Wiley; 2005. p. 259–90.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Srinivasan N. We are not alone—Family care for persons with mental illness. Bangalore: Action for Mental Illness (ACMI); 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srinivasan TN, Suresh TR. Non-specific symptoms and screening of non-psychotic morbidity in primary care. Indian J Psychiatry. 1990;32:77–82.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sujatha V, Abraham L, editors. Medical pluralism in contemporary India. Telangana: Orient Blackswan; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wig N. Mental health and spiritual values: A view from the East. Int Rev Psychiatry. 1999;11:92–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization & World Organization of Family Doctors. Integrating Mental Health into Primary Care: a global perspective. Geneva: World Health Organization and World Organization of Family Doctors (Wonca); 2008.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Medicine and Society, Biological Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Gayatri Salunkhe

  2. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Matthias Braeunig

Authors
  1. Gayatri Salunkhe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthias Braeunig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Center for Mental Health, Medical Center - University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Kurt Fritzsche

  2. Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA

    Susan H. McDaniel

  3. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Center for Mental Health, Medical Center - University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Michael Wirsching

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Salunkhe, G., Braeunig, M. (2020). Mental Health in India: Perspectives for Psychosomatic Medicine. In: Fritzsche, K., McDaniel, S., Wirsching, M. (eds) Psychosomatic Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27080-3_28

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27080-3_28

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-27079-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-27080-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation