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Editorial

Declining mental health

Allocate adequate fund to reinforce mental health services


Bangladeshpost
Published : 04 Feb 2022 08:05 PM

Mental health is a topic which we like to discuss openly in our society. However, in this day and age, many human minds are not able to cope up with the various stresses, pressures that life offers. Those who just cannot bear that pain or stress chooses not to live. They think rather dying is better than living. The alarming thing is that the number of people who think like that is increasing day by day.


The government should identify 

suicide as a public health issue


According to a national mental health survey, jointly conducted by the Bangladesh government and World Health Organisation (WHO), before the pandemic in 2018-19, about 92 percent of adults with mental health problems did not get any treatment and 94 percent of youths aged between 18 and 23 with mental health problems also did not receive any treatment.

The survey provides a picture of how mental health issues are ignored in our country. According to the news published in media, 11 thousand people have committed suicide during the pandemic in 2021.

The biggest driving force to these suicide numbers is that society does not acknowledge the importance of mental health. People go through their own troubles but society usually pushes those troubles further to a point where they feel like giving up. Everyone needs to be more supportive and understanding.

Family plays a vital role here and the person who is suffering from mental health problems should be properly given mental support and his or her problem should be recognised rather than taking it for granted. Liberal and good education is essential in suicide prevention and everyone needs to take proper care of the members, especially children of their own family. The government should identify suicide as a public health issue and also setup official suicide hotlines 24/7.