Professor of clinical psychology department of Dhaka University and the president of BCPS Muhammad Kamruzzaman Mozumder said among the people who need mental health care, only 8 per cent of people are able to receive the services, 92 per cent are out of the facility.
He came up with the disclosure as a key note speaker at a webinar organised by the Department of Clinical Psychology of Dhaka University and Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Society (BCPS) on the occasion of World Mental Health Day-2024 on Friday night.
Among the special guests in the webinar, Director General of Government DNA Lab Dr. AM Parvez Rahim, the Director of Health Department (Administration) Dr. ABM Abu Hanif and the Dean of the Faculty of Biology of Dhaka University Md. Akhtar Hussain Khan were present.
Dr. Muhammad Kamruzzaman Mozumder said that it is very important to provide services to those who are suffering from mental health problems in Bangladesh. We find that only 8% of people who actually need mental health care are receiving services, 92% are out of mental health facility.
This clearly shows the lack of research in the field of mental health services in our country. At the same time, if we look at the picture of children and youth, the amount of medical deficiency among them is 94 percent, only 6 percent are able to receive treatment.
Mentioning that it is economically beneficial to ensure the mental health of an employee at work, he said that 60 percent of people around the world are working in different sectors. 16 percent of them had mental health problems.
The most common reason is work overload, which damages an employee's mental health and reduces performance. As one estimate, mental health problems in the workplace cost over a trillion dollars in financial losses each year. This loss outside the workplace is estimated at 3 trillion dollars.
Professor of Neuropsychology Institute MM Jalal Uddin said, mental health problem patients in our country are 13-14 percent of the total health sector. But against this, the budget is only 0.5 percent. So, just as we have a shortfall in research, we also have a shortfall in our budget.
Kamal Ahmed Chowdhury, Director of DU Nasirullah Psychotherapy Unit and Professor of Clinical Psychology Department, said that to ensure mental health in the workplace, institutional initiatives are more necessary than individual initiatives. Because, if there is an environment, mental health will be good if the organisation can ensure it, if the events that disrupt mental health can be stopped, it is possible to ensure mental health in the workplace.
Chairman of the clinical psychology department of DU and the general secretary of BCPS Md. Shahanur Hossain in his speech said, 18.17 percent of adults have mental health problems.
Among them, depression anxiety, somatization disorder together account for 13.9 percent and the rest fall under other disorders.
It is clear that depression, anxiety, somatization disorder are major mental problems among adults in Bangladesh. In addition, 12.6 percent of children and adolescents have mental problems.
He said that 25/35 researches are conducted every year in the clinical psychology department, including M.S., M.Phil theses. Among them, a 2016 study found that three times more people are suffering from mental health problems compared to the country's official survey.
