Mental health has long been an ignored area and considered a taboo in the Indian society. A new report; however, suggests that there has been over 80 per cent increase in the number of people seeking help for mental health issues, particularly in tier-2 cities.

A domestic digital healthcare platform’s annual healthcare map suggests an 82 per cent rise in appointments with psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists in tier-2 cities, including Indore, Kanpur, Nagpur, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Patna. People consulted mostly for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), marriage counseling, stress, de-addiction and anger management, among others.

Aparna Mahesh, a psychotherapist, said that it is commonly perceived that mental issues are mainly seen in metro cities due to stressful lifestyle. However, non-metro cities also need access to mental healthcare.

Mahesh added that the steep rise in the number of physical appointments with psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists in these cities highlights that Indians, in non-metros as well, are looking for timely assistance to address their concerns and are not ignoring them or self-medicating.

In tier-1 cities, there has been a 24 per cent rise in the appointments with psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report states that 7.5 per cent of the Indian population suffers from some mental concern or disorder. This clearly suggests that unhealthy lifestyle, long working hours and work-life imbalance are impacting people and their mental health, said the report.

It has also been noted that Indians visited their doctors 3.2 times a year in 2018, compared to 2.7 times in 2017. Gynecology, Dermatology and Pediatrics were the top three specialties that saw the most visits.

The healthcare map, featuring major consumer healthcare trends, concerns and behavior, has been compiled from thousands of searches and appointments, by more than 13 crore patients in more than 50 cities and across over 250 specialties, in the year 2018.