📋 WAT/Essay Analysis Guide
🌐 India’s Efforts in Tackling Mental Health – Are We Doing Enough?
🔎 Understanding the Topic
India’s mental health crisis reflects gaps in policy implementation, funding, and social awareness. Addressing mental health issues is essential for healthcare systems, societal well-being, and economic productivity.
🕒 Effective Planning and Writing
- Time Allocation:
- Planning: 5 minutes
- Writing: 20 minutes
- Review: 5 minutes
- Word Count Distribution:
- Introduction: ~60 words
- Body: ~375 words
- Conclusion: ~60 words
✨ Introduction Techniques for Essays
- Contrast Approach: “While the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 decriminalizes suicide, India still faces a mental health treatment gap of up to 92%.”
- Solution-Based Approach: “India’s mental health burden demands urgent action through enhanced funding, workforce development, and community-based care.”
📚 Structuring the Essay Body
- Achievements:
- 📜 Implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017, ensuring rights-based care.
- 📈 Rising awareness campaigns reducing stigma around mental health.
- 💻 Use of digital platforms like telepsychiatry to expand access.
- Challenges:
- 💸 Underfunding: Only 1.3% of the healthcare budget allocated to mental health.
- 📉 Severe shortage of trained professionals, with only 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 people.
- 🏘️ Rural-urban disparities in access to mental health services.
- Future Outlook:
- 🚀 Scale digital health platforms like telepsychiatry to bridge access gaps.
- 📊 Increase budget allocation to 5% of the healthcare budget.
- 🤝 Foster public-private partnerships to improve mental health infrastructure.
🔑 Concluding Effectively
- Balanced Conclusion: “India has taken critical steps in mental health policy but must now prioritize funding, infrastructure, and awareness for lasting impact.”
- Global Comparison: “By learning from models in Australia and the UK, India can better integrate mental health into primary healthcare.”
📊 Analyzing Successes and Shortcomings
- Key Achievements: Policy advancements, digital health platforms, and rising awareness.
- Ongoing Challenges: Budget constraints, workforce shortages, and treatment gaps.
- Global Context: Learning from nations with robust mental health systems like the UK and Australia.
💡 Recommendations for Sustainable Progress
- Increase mental health funding to 5% of the healthcare budget.
- Integrate mental health services into primary healthcare systems.
- Enhance grassroots awareness campaigns to combat stigma and promote early intervention.
✍️ Sample Short Essays
- Balanced Perspective: “Despite notable achievements in mental health policy, systemic challenges like funding and workforce gaps persist, necessitating urgent reforms.”
- Solution-Oriented: “Scaling telehealth platforms and boosting budget allocations can bridge India’s mental health treatment gap.”
- Global Comparison: “India must emulate global best practices, such as Australia’s community-based mental healthcare, to strengthen its mental health framework.”