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
