20m mental patients in Bangladesh

At least 20 million people in Bangladesh have been suffering from different types of mental illness, reveals a recent government study.

The National Mental Health Survey (2018-19) jointly conducted by National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital and Health Department’s communicable disease programme recently revealed the findings at the capital’s Krishibid Institute.

At the programme, mental health institute’s director M Mohit Kamal said, “Our mind is the victim of our carelessness. The minds of the children are confined in small screens. This has been a crisis. The crowds of parents with those types of children are rising at our chambers.”

During the study supported by World Health Organization (WHO), reports on 13 types of mental illness were collected between April and June this year. The study was conducted at 496 sampling areas. A total of 7,270 adults (male and female) and 2,270 children participated in the study.

The findings show that out of the mentally ill population, 6.7 per cent suffer from mental stress.

The study also said the males suffer more from the stress than that of the females while people in the cities undergo more stress than that of the people in the villages.
The previous survey conducted in 2003 showed 16.05 per cent adults suffer from mental sickness.

Experts say the percentage remains nearly close to the previous one, but the number has been increased due to the increase of the population in the last 16 years.

Health and family welfare minister Zahid Maleque said there is only one psychiatrist for 200,000 mental patients.

“The government is planning to tag mental health treatment with primary medical services.”

As per the study, 14 per cent of the children aged between seven and 17 suffer from mental illness. The propensity of autism and neurological sickness is dominating. But, 95 per cent of them do not take any treatment.

The study also suggests that the children and juveniles mainly suffer from eight types of mental diseases.

The study also reveals that on average 92.3 per cent people either have no opportunities to take treatment or do not want to take any kind of treatment for their illness.

Most of the remaining 8 per cent patients take treatment at the personal chambers of the psychiatrists while as high as 2.2 per cent receives treatment at specialised hospitals. Besides, 2.2 per cent take Homeopathy, Ayurveda and Unani medication.

Particularly, 17 per cent either discontinue the treatment or do not comply with the prescriptions.