Mental diseases higher, treatment tendency lower

The number of mental patients is constantly increasing in the country. Mental problems among students amid the pandemic are taking an acute shape. But compared to that, the amount of treatment for mental illness is very low. According to a study by Aanchal Foundation, 84 percent  students of the country are suffering from mental problems. As a result, the number of suicides and vagrants is increasing. However, only 8 percent of patients are receiving direct or indirect treatment, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Students are losing interest in studying due to mental stress

More than 84 percent of the college and university students in the country are suffering from mental problems during the Corona time. About 75 percent of these students have lost interest in the study. This trend was more prevalent among the students staying in the village by this time. Female students have more mental problems. This picture has come up in a survey of the non-governmental organization Anchal Foundation.

They conducted the survey titled 'Mental Disaster of University Students in Corona'. The survey, conducted from September 12 to 26, polled 2,552 students from 92 colleges and universities across the country. About 61 percent of the students are female. There was only one person of the third sex. The students ranged in age from 18 to 28. Most of them were between 18 and 23 years old. According to the survey, 84.6 percent of students are suffering from various mental problems including depression.

Only 8 percent are taking treatment

According to an estimate by the National Institute of Mental Health, 92 percent of people with mental illness do not seek any services or counseling. The remaining 8 percent of people are receiving mainstream treatment. And there are not only psychiatrists but also other physicians.

And those who go for treatment also seek medical help not at the beginning of the problem but at the very last moment.

The IEDCR conducted a survey for the mental illness situation across the country during the pandemic. According to the survey, about 46 percent of the participants showed signs of depression and 33 percent showed signs of anxiety. The report further states that the health workers engaged in the treatment of Covid-19 are having a hard time working under stress, which is harming their mental health.

Associate Professor at the National Institute of Mental Health, Md. Zaheer Uddin, told The Report that coronavirus increased mental depression and fear among people. People here have come to us more with depression, loneliness, the fear death in Covid infection second time, or obsessive compulsive disorder.

A call not to put extra pressure

There is a growing tendency to finish the course quickly as the activities of the educational institution have been stalled for a long time. Experts say that this tendency can increase stress.

Many of our teachers and parents tend to take a year and a half of study in a month and a half. This will be the opposite, said Helaluddin Ahmed, an associate professor at the National Institute of Mental Health.

The advice of this mental health expert is to give priority to co-curricular activities as well as textual subjects in the beginning. Students should be allowed to take part in recreational activities, he said.

The number of suicides is increasing

In recent months, there have been student suicides in different parts of the country. The issue has played a significant role in conducting the survey, said Tansen Rose, the founding president of the Aanchal Foundation. The number of suicides has also increased at this time.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), suicide increased by 17.36 percent during the first wave of coronavirus surge. According to some non-governmental organizations, the number of suicides has increased by 44 to 45 percent during this period as compared to other times.

BBS data show, 11,259 people committed suicide in 2020 while the figure was  9,310 in the previous year. According to the government, the number of suicides has increased by 17.31 percent during the Corona period.