A recent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur brought out concerning facts regarding the reporting of mental disorders in India. The results indicated significantly low rates of self-reporting for mental health issues. According to the findings of the study the self-reporting of mental illness was less than 1 percent, as per the 75th Round National Sample Survey conducted in 2017-18. Notably, the National Sample Survey solely depended on individuals self-reporting their mental health conditions.
The study gathered data from 555,115 individuals, comprising 325,232 from rural areas and 229,232 from urban areas. This information was collected from 8,077 randomly selected villages and 6,181 urban areas, and it encompassed 283 outpatient cases and 374 hospitalizations related to mental disorders in India.
Furthermore, the research highlighted how people are seeking private mental health services leading towards out-of-pocket expenses. The study was linked with logistic regression models, which revealed that individuals with higher incomes were 1.73 times more likely to report health problems compared to those with lower incomes. It also revealed that the private sector played a prominent role in delivering mental health services, constituting 66.1 percent of outpatient care and 59.2 percent of inpatient care including only 23 percent of individuals hospitalized for mental disorders had health insurance coverage and that average out-of-pocket expenses for both hospitalization and outpatient care were significantly higher in the private sector than in the public sector.