For families that had a member with a mental illness, nearly a fifth of household monthly expenditure is spent on healthcare, on average, finds a study published in March 2023. Because of out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare, about 21% of these households dropped below the poverty line, the study found.
The study, “Catastrophic Health Expenditure and Poverty Impact Due to Mental Illness in India” published in the Journal of Health Management, highlights the financial impact of mental healthcare and the need for financial risk protection for households with members suffering from mental illness.
The study uses data from the 76th round of the National Sample Survey conducted between July and December 2018. During the survey, 6,679 households self-reported a person with mental illness as part of the Persons with Disabilities in India Survey.
Prevalence of mental illness
In 2016, the National Mental Health Survey by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, estimated that about 10.6% of India’s population, above 18 years, lived with a mental health condition. This excludes tobacco use disorders but includes other substance use disorders.
IndiaSpend has reached out to the director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Dr Pratima Murthy, for more information on the prevalence of mental health disorders, as well as the…
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