JANA VIKAS being the grassroot organization working with thematic areas looking into the emerging scenario of the community. While working in the communities, the Jana Vikas realized to work on the mental issues as the cases are increasing day-by-day due to various factors in present world. Mental health disorders affect millions globally, with conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder being increasingly common. As a result, mental illness can significantly impair an individual’s ability to function, affecting their work, relationships, and overall well-being. Untreated mental health issues lead to significant economic burdens and healthcare costs. Mental health issues can contribute to societal problems like homelessness, substance abuse, and crime.
Children, young and old experience mental health problems in the district Kandhamal. Yet social stigmas and negative attitudes toward mental health prevent young people from seeking the support they need and often remain hidden, as there is a lack of education and awareness concerning psychological disorders. They are often tagged as “lunatics”, “crazy”, “possessed” and many more by society. This leads to a vicious cycle of shame, suffering and isolation of the patients. Major determinants influencing the prevalence is associated with poor access to good quality education and failures, lack of employment, reduced productivity, socio-economic status, distress migration, religious and caste conflicts, discrimination and violence, social media usage and substance use. Despite the existence of government 14 community (CHC) and 43 primary (PHCs) health centers (CHCs), and 1 district mental health service center, 1453 Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) to address issues of health at the grass roots, the “realized access,” an indicator of “actual service” utilization, remains quite low and this need to be addressed. The reason behind this is both the doctors, primary health care workers, and activists are neither trained, equipped with instruments and medicines nor vested responsibility deliver services to mental ill patients. Another big reason is topography of the district, high range mountains, dense forest restrict communications and reach of this remote communities to these centers. This affects not just individuals but also their families and communities. Addressing these issues supports the well-being of all.
At this juncture, Jana Vikas has taken some of the strategies such as:
- Identification of mental ill patients at community level
- Enrolling them in the District Medical to get counseling and medicines
- Sensitize community, peer groups and care takers on the symptoms, causes and provisions from District Medical
- Increase coordination at PHO, PHC, CHC and DMHP level for medical service to PWMI.
- Creating volunteerism at the community level for better cooperation and sustainability.
Jana Vikas always open to explore the new possibility and learning to address the mental health issues in collaboration with government health workers and civil society to bring dignity in the lives of Person with Mental Illness. The six-month status are shared here to understand the situation and try to address this issues with the support of medical team from village to district level.
