To Break the Binaries

Mental well-being is rooted in the complex relationship between society and the individual. Laws and policies alone cannot fix it

- Pragya Singh

PICTURE a woman, a single mother in her 30s, working as a cook in well-off homes. She feeds several families daily, but not one offers her a meal. Her day is long; she battles hunger, exhaustion, poverty. She decides to approach an NGO, The Banyan in Chennai, which helps homeless people with mental health conditions. She wants to know how she can cope with her troubles without falling apart. In a country with more resources, she might have had access to unemployment benefits or childcare support. In India, she faces near invisibility. What can The Banyan do?

Dr Sanjeev Jain, Emeritus Professor at NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) and associated with The Banyan says, “Situations like these are far too common in India, and they raise a crucial question—what are the goals of mental healthcare?” He recalls another case: a college student who studies by day and delivers food at night. He has no time to sleep, so he feels perturbed all day. Telling this young man, when he seeks therapy for his anxiety, to “just stop worrying” or “quit your job” is impossible—the student's livelihood depends on it. His distress is not merely psychological but deeply entangled with survival and social inequality. So, how can a mental health policy help, when the root causes lie far beyond any doctor or clinic?