Mumbai has highest number of people who require psychiatric help

With over 38,000 cases recorded in the past six months, Mumbai tops list of cities with patients who opted for psychiatric treatment at OPDs

Mumbaikars are among the unhappiest people in the country, suggests a first-of its-kind report by the central government. The report reveals that Mumbai has the highest number of people who require psychiatric treatment (on OPD basis) out of all tier-I cities across the country. Like its capital, Maharashtra too is among the top three states for mental disorders.

Representation pic

As per the report by the Union Ministry of Health and Family, the 'Maximum City' has the maximum number of people who require treatment for mental illness (38,588), followed by Kolkata (27,394) and Bangalore (24,348).

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The rest of the state doesn't seem any better off either, with Maharashtra ranking second (1.24 lakh) among states with cases of mental illness (see box).

Doctors have said that the growing usage of Internet has led to the rise of several new forms psychiatric illness, such as selfie addiction and body image issues. Representation pic/Thinkstock

That Mumbai's ruthless pace of life is to blame is clear from the fact that more than 50 per cent of these cases are related to depression and anxiety.

What has mental health experts more worried, however, is the rise of entirely new disorders that occur due to heavy usage of Internet and social media. Such disorders have been witnessed even in school-going children, said Dr Yusuf Matcheswalla, head of the psychiatry department, JJ hospital.

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"Earlier, most of the patients would usually be middle-aged or elderly, but these days, we get patients who are as young as 10," he said, adding, "However, we should also appreciate that part of the reason for the increase in patients is because there is more awareness about mental health among people."

Case study
For Sushmita Mehra (name changed), a 20-year-old engineering student from Andheri, it all began when her father gave her an iPhone for her birthday - a gift that quickly turned into a curse.

"She became obsessed with selfies. She started clicking pictures of everything and posted them online. Even when she cried, she would post pictures of her tears. Her mood was completely controlled by the likes and comments she got on social media. She gradually became isolated. Once, she was bullied online for a picture, where a person commented that she was looking fat. She spiralled into depression," said Sushmita's father. As her mental condition started deteriorating, her family took her to a private hospital for counselling. She was diagnosed with Internet addiction, as well as bipolar disorder.

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Commenting on the case, Dr Sagar Mundada, a psychiatrist from KEM hospital, explained that the growing usage of the Internet had given rise to several new forms psychiatric illness.

World wide web of depression
"New types of disorders are coming to the fore that didn't even exist a few years ago, like Facebook depression, cyber bullying, and online gaming addiction. We receive several young children who are addicted to the Internet. Many also complain of body image issues, unhappy with the way they look – this is directly related to acceptance on social media," said Dr Mundada.

Trolling on social media has also subjected many people to mental trauma, say experts who are getting more and more cases of depression as a result of cyber bullying.

Nirali Bhatia, cyber psychology expert, explained, "I often get patients who go into depression because of online bullying. Negative comments or trolling make a deep impact on youths, pushing them into a cocoon and drowning them in gloominess that takes days to overcome."

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