Friday, August 29, 2025
  • GMC
  • Webmail
  • Contact Us
  • About BBS
  • Privacy & Policy
ENG
DZO
BBSCL Logo
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Announcement
  • More
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule
Radio Live
No Result
View All Result
BBSCL logo
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Announcement
  • More
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule
No Result
View All Result
BBSCL logo

Addressing mental health disorders and suicide cases

December 10, 2021
in Politics
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
0
SHARES
9
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Mental health disorders and suicide cases are prevalent among the economically active age group in the country. As per the National Council’s Social and Cultural Affairs committee’s review report, the suicide rate is high among young people aged 10-24 years and mental disorders among 15-49 years. This, as per the committee, can have severe consequences on the social, political and economic wellbeing of the country.

As per the report, Bhutan recorded more than 36,000 mental disorder cases and more than 500 suicide cases in the last five years. The majority of the suicide cases were due to anxiety or depression, family relationship issues, alcohol abuse and non-payment of loans among others.

However, the Council’s Social and Cultural Affairs Committee reported that much is lacking in addressing these problems.

“The National Health Policy 2017 states that except for alcoholism associated mental health disorder and support to the mentally disabled groups, there is no mention of addressing overall mental health issues or efforts on addressing suicide prevention,” said Ugyen Namgay, a Member of the Social and Cultural Affairs Committee.

He said this could have been one of the biggest challenges in addressing and preventing both mental health issues and suicides.

According to the report, suicide cases were high among farmers, home-makers, students and unemployed people among others.

“We found that those vulnerable students who come from a disadvantaged background often tend to have suicidal thoughts and end up dying by suicide. And secondly, is the academic pressure the students face in schools. The pressure the students have to excel in academic also triggered them to take this step,” he added.

Moreover, the report found an ineffective implementation of suicide action plans at the dzongkhag and gewog levels. The committee reported that some Dzongkhags clubbed these plans with other programmes. “The committee during the consultation meetings with the respective Dzongdas of seven dzongkhags found no uniformity in the approach,” he reported.

In addition, the budget allocated to address mental health disorders and suicide prevention programmes is between Nu 2.5 M to Nu 3.5 M over the last five years. The committee said the meagre amount allocated for these two programmes translates to only Nu 5 for every Bhutanese.

Meanwhile, the committee found spiritual programmes effective in educating and creating awareness on suicide prevention.

The committee presented five recommendations to address the current issues surrounding mental disorders and suicides. The recommendations include improving policies, allocating resources, prioritizing requirements of two school counsellors, establishing help centres at both the dzongkhag and national level, prioritizing care for those who have attempted suicide and exploring the establishment of rehabilitation centres in the regions.

The members extensively deliberated on the committee’s recommendations. The committee will finalize and present the recommendations for adoption next week.

Sonam Pem/Pema Seldon Tshering

Edited by Sonam

Previous Post

A camp encouraging girls to take STEM subjects- Paro

Next Post

National Assembly calls for a separate bench for corruption cases

Next Post
National Assembly calls for a separate bench for corruption cases

National Assembly calls for a separate bench for corruption cases

His Majesty offers prayers and thousand butterlamps for General Bipin Rawat

His Majesty offers prayers and thousand butterlamps for General Bipin Rawat

Schools present Bhutan Youth Declaration on Climate Action to the government

Schools present Bhutan Youth Declaration on Climate Action to the government

Please login to join discussion

RECOMMENDED NEWS

Lack of infrastructures cripples JDWNRH forensic department

Lack of infrastructures cripples JDWNRH forensic department

11 years ago
8
BoB Bhutan Premier League: Tensung FC held to draw by Gomo FC

BoB Bhutan Premier League: Tensung FC held to draw by Gomo FC

4 years ago
1

Not a single donor at the eye bank centre

6 years ago
13
RICB launches medical insurance for Bhutanese referrals to India

RICB launches medical insurance for Bhutanese referrals to India

1 year ago
31

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Accidents (15)
  • Agriculture (490)
  • Announcement (193)
  • Audience Survey Report (1)
  • Business (777)
  • Crime/Legal (383)
  • Culture (53)
  • Development (59)
  • Disaster (57)
  • Economy (305)
  • Education (441)
  • Entertainment (19)
  • Environment (79)
  • Feature (66)
  • Featured (9)
  • Festival (85)
  • GMC (21)
  • Headlines (17)
  • Health (658)
  • HYDROPOWER (2)
  • Legal (62)
  • Literature (10)
  • Livestock (81)
  • Media (27)
  • Other Stories (5,935)
  • Politics (422)
  • RCSC (2)
  • Recent stories (10)
  • Religion (47)
  • Sci/Tech (726)
  • Social (621)
  • Sports (482)
  • Technology (202)
  • Tourism (25)
  • Uncategorized (13,874)
  • Video (142)
  • Video Story (258)
  • Wildlife (43)

BROWSE BY TOPICS

Tender Announcement Vacancy Announcement

POPULAR NEWS

  • BPC’s investigation rules out transformer short circuit as Damchhu forest fire cause

    Viral video of Bhutanese man assaulted by locals and police in Jaigaon sparks safety concerns

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Gelephu Mindfulness City opens recruitment drive for Bhutanese professionals

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Authorities link 23 TikTok accounts to online shopping-based gambling, freeze 26 other bank accounts

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trongsa Viewpoint Resort up for auction once again

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A centenarian’s recipe to longevity

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
BBSCL

Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) is Bhutan’s primary national broadcaster, delivering diverse news and entertainment in multiple languages, fostering cultural understanding and public knowledge.

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • Revised Ex-Country Referral Guidelines 2025 to cover more critical procedures
  • Soft launch on November 11 to prepare for full GST rollout
  • The PEMA Secretariat expands mental health care reach by rolling out online screening system
  • Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, Sudhakar Dalela, honored the fourth graduation ceremony of JSW School of Law as the Chief Guest
  • Trongsa–Gelephu highway to undergo 30 km widening from next year

News Category

  • Accidents
  • Agriculture
  • Announcement
  • Audience Survey Report
  • Business
  • Crime/Legal
  • Culture
  • Development
  • Disaster
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Feature
  • Featured
  • Festival
  • GMC
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • HYDROPOWER
  • Legal
  • Literature
  • Livestock
  • Media
  • Other Stories
  • Politics
  • RCSC
  • Recent stories
  • Religion
  • Sci/Tech
  • Social
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Tourism
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Video Story
  • Wildlife
  • GMC
  • Webmail
  • Contact Us
  • About BBS
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 BBSCL. All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Announcement
  • More
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule

© 2024 BBSCL. All rights reserved.