The National Mental Health Survey has thrown up some startling facts about substance use disorders (SUDs), including alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (both illicit and prescription).
According to the survey, SUDs was prevalent in 22.4 per cent of the surveyed 34,802 individuals above 18 years in 12 States. While the prevalence of tobacco use disorder (moderate and high dependence) is 20.9 per cent, nearly 4.6 per cent of the population was found suffering from alcohol use disorder both in terms of abuse and dependence.
A higher prevalence of this group of disorders is found in males with nine per cent affected as against 0.5 per cent females. A team of doctors comprising senior professors from NIMHANS — G. Gururaj, Mathew Varghese, Vivek Benegal and Girish N. — said the numbers could be much higher as the study instrument captured only the more severe end of the spectrum of alcohol use. The survey was released by Chief Justice of Karnataka Subhro Kamal Mukherjee at NIMHANS in Bengaluru on Monday.
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The report was submitted to the Union Health Ministry on October 10 that marks World Mental Health Day.
Illicit substance use
The survey revealed that 0.6 per cent of the surveyed population suffered from illicit substance use disorders (dependence and abuse) which included cannabis products, opioid drugs, stimulant drugs, inhalant substances, and prescription drugs.
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Pointing out that this was 1.1 per cent among adult males, NIMHANS director B.N. Gangadhar said: “This is of serious concern as mental health and SUDs are inter-related owing to their role as causative factors for non-communicable disorders.”
The burden of SUDs, contributed mainly by alcohol and tobacco, was more in the middle-aged (40 to 59 years) individuals, among males (35.67 per cent) and in rural areas (24.12 per cent). However, other SUDs (illicit drugs) were more prevalent in urban areas.
Suicidal risk a concern
Pointing out that high suicidal risk is an increasing concern in India, Dr. Gururaj said the survey found that nearly 1 per cent of the population reported high suicidal risk. “The prevalence of high suicidal risk was more in the age group of 40 to 49 at 1.19 per cent and 1.14 per cent among females. It is 1.71 per cent among those residing in urban areas. While half of the group reporting suicidal risk had co-occurring mental illness, the other half did not report any co-morbid mental disorder. This warrants the need for multi-sectoral actions,” he said.
Dr. Gangadhar said that apart from loss of lives, the causes, risk factors and consequences of suicide are poorly understood in India. “This calls for quality research at the national and State level as well as coordinated and comprehensive interventions,” he added.