Mental Illness

One in two women report experiencing chronic stress due to work-life imbalance, financial pressures, and societal expectations, revealed a report exposing the mental health crisis facing Indian women

The Economic Survey for FY24 highlighted that mental health affects productivity more broadly than physical health issues and highlighted the socio-economic impacts of mental disorders

The government has introduced the term "unsound mind" in place of "mental illness", on the recommendations of a parliamentary panel, in the redrafted criminal law bills that seek to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11, along with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam bills. The proposed laws used the term "mental illness" with meaning assigned to it in clause (a) of section 2 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, headed by BJP MP Brijlal, had recommended that the word "mental illness" in the proposed laws may be changed to "unsound mind" as mental illness is too wide in its import in comparison to unsound mind, as it appears to include even mood swings or voluntary intoxication within its ambit. The panel made the observations in its report prepared after examining the propos

World Mental Health Day highlights the significance of comprehensive help for people confronting both long-term physical illnesses and related mental health issues

Regulator Irdai has asked general and standalone health insurers to offer a specific cover for Persons with Disabilities (PWD), persons afflicted with HIV/AIDS, and those with mental illness. In a circular, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) asked the insurers to determine the price of the product in line with the IRDAI (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2016 (HIR, 2016). The insurers have been directed to put in place a Board-approved underwriting policy that ensures that no proposal from these categories of population is denied insurance cover. The policy tenure of the product should be for one year and is renewable as per regulatory framework. General and standalone health insurers, who have been issued a Certificate of Registration to transact General and/or Health Insurance Business, have been asked to mandatorily launch and offer their respective product immediately. Irdai has been set up to bring about speedy and orderly growth of the insurance

The report which was released after five years of research also established correlations between conditions of incarceration and ill-health.

Book review of Health, Hedonism and Hypochondria

Book review - No Straight Thing Was Ever Made: Essays on Mental Health

Book review of Stoned Shamed Depressed: An Explosive Account of the Secret Lives of India's Teens

Government financial support during and since the lockdown for persons with psychosocial disabilities from low-income families, many of which had lost income, was inadequate

Anxiety, depression and insomnia were most common among recovered Covid-19 patients in the study who developed mental health problems

Patients with altered mental function - the medical term is encephalopathy - were also nearly seven times as likely to die as those who did not have that type of problem

Michael Kopelman, a psychiatrist who has interviewed Assange around 20 times, said the former hacker would be a "very high" suicide risk if he were extradited to the US

A bench comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, Navin Sinha and B.R. Gavai issued the notice and sought replies from the Centre and IRDA

Men's risk of being a victim rose by 76% while women's went up three-fold, says study