Our mental healthcare systems need no less of a boost Premium Alok V. Kulkarni The surge in cases of psychosis, delirium, depression and other ailments since the outbreak of covid offers evidence of a shadow pandemic that we must pay far more attention to. Read Full Story I have lost count of the people who are reaching out to our organization for mental health help amid the covid pandemic. I have been attending to increasing cases of delirium, psychosis, depression, phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and dementia during this crisis. India has less than 9,000 psychiatrists to cater to a population of 1.3 billion. One patient came to our hospital with recurrent flashbacks of his traumatic ICU stay. He was easily irritable, had crying spells, and avoided reading or discussing anything related to covid. I made a diagnosis of PTSD, and started him on therapy and low-dose medication. His story is largely generalizable, and reflects the shadow pandemic of mental health disorders accompanying covid.