The kids are not all right – the challenges of youth mental health in India

India is young, vibrant and growing. With over 350 million people below the age of 30, India has one of the world’s largest youth populations. Divided by caste, class, region and language, this young population represents enormous promise but also significant challenges. An unaddressed thought often discussed on social media is their mental health.

Their mental well-being is significant as it can potentially affect not only the country’s demographic dividend but also the quality of life, economic and social ability and the social cohesion of India’s vast, diverse multi-ethnic, multi-religious and linguistic social structure.

India has had a mental health epidemic for decades.

Statistics on mental health show that one in seven Indians encounters mental health problems, some of them as early as adolescence. It is much higher than the global average.

Due to stigma, limited access, affordability and shortage of services, by some estimates, there is a glaring gap in the treatment of mental health concerns. As per India’s own estimates, the treatment gap for mental disorders ranged between 70%-92% for different disorders: common mental disorder 85%; severe mental disorder 73.6%; psychosis 75.5%; bipolar affective disorder 70.4%;,alcohol use disorder 86.3%, tobacco use 91.8% .

There are also critical disorders including learning, speech, visual, hearing and personality disorders that are...

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