Over the last decade, mental health has entered public conversation in India with greater openness and acceptance. According to the Government of India’s 2025 health overview, nearly 15 per cent of Indian adults now experience mental health conditions that require intervention, reflecting both the scale of need and a growing willingness to acknowledge emotional distress. Public awareness campaigns, media narratives, and dialogue have played a vital role in reducing stigma and giving people the language to speak about their struggles.
However, recognition is only the beginning. Awareness, by itself, does not guarantee access to care. For millions across the country, the moment they acknowledge distress is followed not by support, but by uncertainty, where to go, whom to approach and whether help will be affordable, timely, or sustained.
Structural Gaps That Awareness Cannot Bridge
The gap between knowing support is needed and actually receiving that support continues to widen. National Mental Health Survey suggests that over 80 - 85 % of Indians with mental health conditions do not receive timely or adequate treatment, reflecting one of the widest treatment gaps globally.
Yet, as India speaks more openly about mental health, a crucial question remains unanswered: what happens after awareness? Visibility, while essential, is only the first step. A key limitation of many mental health campaigns is their focus on recognition rather than sustained behaviour change or clearly defined help-seeking pathways.
Mental health cannot be addressed through messages alone; it requires systems that ensure assessment, intervention, continuity of care, and recovery. This gap is compounded by a critical workforce shortage; India has only about 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, far below the WHO-recommended minimum of three, leaving large parts of the country without adequate mental health care despite recent increases in training capacity.
The impact of this gap is felt across demographics. Mental health challenges cut across gender and age, yet the barriers to care remain strikingly similar. Women often navigate emotional distress shaped by caregiving responsibilities, social expectations, and life transitions, yet many lack access to safe, affordable, and confidential care. Men, conditioned to suppress vulnerability, frequently delay seeking help until distress escalates into crisis. Children and adolescents face growing emotional pressures in an increasingly complex world, but their concerns are still too often misunderstood, minimised or dismissed as phases.
Across these experiences over a decade, access to timely, appropriate and sustained mental health support remains limited.
Early Intervention Begins With Inclusive Education
This absence of accessible pathways makes early intervention not just important, but urgent. One of the most critical gaps in India’s mental health ecosystem lies in identifying and addressing distress before it deepens into long-term illness. Emotional and behavioural challenges often emerge early in life, yet systematic screening, support and follow-up within schools and communities remain limited.
Inclusive education must therefore go beyond academic accommodations to meaningfully include emotional and psychological well-being. Schools, colleges, and community spaces are uniquely positioned to become the first line of support, to notice early warning signs, normalise help-seeking, and intervene with care and sensitivity. However, educators and caregivers are often not equipped with the training, tools, curriculum or institutional backing required to respond effectively.
When early signs of distress are missed or ignored, the consequences are far-reaching. What begins as unaddressed emotional difficulty can evolve into chronic mental health conditions, affecting not just individuals but families, workplaces, and society at large. Early intervention, rooted in inclusive education and supported by strong care pathways, is therefore not a choice, it is a responsibility we must collectively uphold.
Moving From Campaigns to Continuity of Care
While awareness initiatives are essential in opening conversations, healing is enabled by systems, not slogans. Integrating mental health into primary healthcare, strengthening community-based services, mandatory screening of mental health visiting physicians, training frontline worker and ensuring continuity of care must now take priority.
Workplaces, too, have a critical role to play. Encouraging openness must be matched with access to professional support, clear policies, and leadership accountability. Employees should feel assured that when they speak up, systems exist to respond with care and responsibility.
From Conversation to Commitment
India has taken a meaningful first step by normalising conversations around mental health. The next step must focus on building systems that ensure access, early intervention, and continuity of care at scale. This responsibility cannot rest with individuals navigating distress alone. It requires coordinated action from policymakers, healthcare institutions, educational systems, workplaces, and community organisations.
Mental health must be embedded into primary healthcare delivery, supported by trained frontline professionals and reliable referral networks. Educational institutions must be equipped to identify and respond to emotional distress early, not as an exception but as a standard of care. Workplaces must move beyond symbolic gestures and adopt accountable frameworks that prioritise employee well-being as a leadership and governance issue.
Awareness opens the door, but policy, investment, and institutional commitment determine what lies beyond it. If India is to truly address its mental health burden, campaigns must be matched with infrastructure, intent with implementation, and dialogue with durable systems of care. Only then can we ensure that no one is left unsupported after they find the courage to ask for help.
Neerja Birla is founder and chairperson, Aditya Birla Education Trust, and the visionary behind Mpower