Express News Service
BENGALURU: Although mental illnesses effect millions of people the world over, mental health had little to no presence in the state budget presented on Monday.The only two instances of allocation for mental well-being was in the announcement that the Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences would be developed at a cost of Rs 75 crore, and a centre of excellence proposed to be set up at the Reforms Institute Campus on Hosur Road in collaboration with NIMHANS and the National Law School of India University to assist women subjected to atrocities.
A psychiatrist from the Indian Medical Association in Karnataka, who did not wish to be named, said that 1 in 4 people have mental health issues, which calls for higher budgetary allocation to provide treatment and awareness.“For instance, mental illnesses are more common in women. The state could have focused more on them. Taluk hospitals have weekly programmes where psychiatrists from district hospital