From Darkness to light

From Darkness to light - India’s Voice on MENTAL HEALTH


NAMI INDIA WALK
September 22, 2007
Dear Friend of NAMI INDIA,
The theme for this year’s NAMI WALK is

“Reform, Recovery and Rehabilitation”

A plea for help... join the NAMI Walk on October 7th,2007 Sunday

The World Health Organisation has classified mental illness as a major health issue that is likely to drain the coffers of many countries. Many of us have family members or friends that have experienced mental illness, or have personal experience with mental illness. Please note that even spare change can make a difference. We are short of many kinds of supportive allied health workers like psychologists, counsellors and medical social workers to help the psychiatrists manage the entire range of mental conditions. Stigma is still associated with mental illness. “Indians tend to sweep such problems under the carpet”.

The Disability Act of 1995 defines 'disability' to mean (i) blindness; (ii) low vision; (iii) leprosy-cured; (iv) hearing impairment; (v) locomotor disability; (vi) mental retardation, and (vii) mental illness.
According to an estimate, mental disorders afflict five percent of the country's population. With as many as five crore of our people in need of special care, the importance of setting up an effective, countrywide system of mental health and social care cannot be over-emphasised.

Here are some important facts about mental illness and recovery:

1. Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders. They cannot be overcome through “will power” and are not related to a person’s “character” or intelligence.

2. Mental disorders fall along a continuum of severity. Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion—about 6 percent—who suffer from a serious mental illness. It is estimated that mental illness affects 1 in 6 families in India.

3. The World Health Organization has reported that by 2020, Major Depressive illness will be the leading cause of disability in the world.

4. Mental illnesses usually strike individuals in the prime of their lives, often during adolescence and young adulthood. All ages are susceptible, but the young and the old are especially vulnerable.

5. Without treatment the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide and wasted lives; The economic cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion rupees each year in India.

6. The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today are highly effective; around 70 percent of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and supports.

7. With appropriate effective medication and a wide range of services tailored to their needs, most people who live with serious mental illnesses can significantly reduce the impact of their illness and find a satisfying measure of achievement and independence. A key concept is to develop expertise in developing strategies to manage the illness process.

8. Early identification and treatment is of vital importance; By ensuring access to the treatment and recovery supports that are proven effective, recovery is accelerated and the further harm related to the course of illness is minimized.

9. Stigma erodes confidence that mental disorders are real, treatable health conditions. We have allowed stigma and a now unwarranted sense of hopelessness to erect attitudinal, structural and financial barriers to effective treatment and recovery. It is time to take these barriers down.

As the reform process continues, with its positive features and with its flaws, we have an unprecedented opportunity to make a real difference. As NAMI INDIA continues to get stronger and more involved in the reform process, we have an obligation to get our message out to those who need to hear from us, and to be part of the decision-making process.


Schizophrenically Yours,

Akila Maheshwari Charagi
CEO
NAMI INDIA
The walk at Mumbai starts from Juhu beach at 10.a.m. and ends at Larsen and Toubro Health Centre- Andheri East.

For further inquires and registration call on
Aarti Naik: +91-9223276472, Rucha at 67251451
Website : www.namiindia.in



Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.