{"id":675433,"date":"2026-05-16T21:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/675433\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T21:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:04:17","slug":"long-waits-costly-therapy-stigma-deepen-mental-healthcare-crisis-in-doon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/675433\/","title":{"rendered":"Long waits, costly therapy &#038; stigma deepen mental healthcare crisis in Doon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/beans-26516-18953745-omb2epng.jpg\" alt=\"Long waits, costly therapy &amp; stigma deepen mental healthcare crisis in Doon\" title=\"AI\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/> Dehradun: For years, a Dehradun resident struggled silently with depression without realising she needed professional help. \u201cMy family kept asking me to relax, take a walk or do something to feel better,\u201d she said. It was only after her distress began manifesting physically through pseudo seizures that she was screened and offered treatment.The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said therapy was never suggested during her initial consultations. \u201cI realised much later on my own that I needed therapy,\u201d she said, adding that she later enrolled in a course to become a clinical psychologist herself.Another resident recalled spending months unable to get out of bed after a personal tragedy in 2024. \u201cI stopped wanting to do anything with my day and avoided all interactions,\u201d she said.Though she knew she needed professional help, she avoided govt hospitals after seeing her sister\u2019s experience there. \u201cAfter a long waiting time, she barely got 10 minutes with the doctor,\u201d she said. She instead turned to private therapy, where sessions lasted nearly an hour but cost around Rs 1,500 each. \u201cI eventually discontinued therapy because I could not afford too many sessions,\u201d she added. In-person therapy sessions in the city can cost anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000.Their experience reflects a wider mental healthcare crisis in Dehradun, where long waiting hours, costly therapy, shortage of professionals and social stigma continue to keep many away from treatment.According to govt data from 2025, one in every 11 persons in India suffers from mental health disorders. However, UNICEF data shows India has only 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 people and even fewer psychologists.Concerns around privacy and supervision at affordable facilities were also raised by patients. One patient said students and trainees often remained present during consultations. \u201cOne does not feel comfortable sharing vulnerabilities in front of anyone but the doctor,\u201d he said.Mental health professionals said the shortage of specialists and pressure on public hospitals make sustained care difficult.Dr Rashi Bhatnagar, who worked in the public sector for over 11 years, said govt institutes often cannot give enough time to patients because of pressure on the system. \u201cGovt facilities are quick to wrap up cases because they are accountable for numbers,\u201d she said.She also pointed to a shortage of professionals and a lack of awareness among patients. \u201cThere is a huge gap between requirements and professionals available. People also don\u2019t reach us because they don\u2019t know they need us,\u201d she said, adding that stigma and denial prevent many from seeking help.Confirming concerns around trainee supervision, Dr Bhatnagar said, \u201cStudents sometimes handle cases they should not be handling without consultants\u2019 knowledge due to gaps in supervision.\u201d Dr Jaya Nawani, psychiatrist at Doon Hospital, said, \u201cMany people remain unaware that psychiatry departments are available in govt medical colleges. Nearly 100 patients visit the hospital daily for mental health support.\u201dDoctors also flagged interruptions in treatment because of medicine shortages and social stigma surrounding psychiatric drugs.Dr Nisha Singla of Coronation Hospital said medicines often run out because many patients cannot afford to buy them privately. \u201cThis can lead to discontinuation of treatment, which impacts recovery,\u201d she said. She also noted the hesitation patients have towards psychiatric medicines.Highlighting similar concerns, Dr Nawani said psychiatric medicines are not always available because budgets are shared across departments. \u201cPriority is often given to physical health over mental health,\u201d she said, adding that many patients discontinue medicines early because they misunderstand psychiatric treatment. \u201cPatients ask, \u2018Will I have to go through it again?\u2019 I ask them if they ask physicians the same question about fever,\u201d she said.Dr Nawani said many patients seek help only after months or years of unnoticed distress, making recovery longer and more difficult. \u201cPatients are reluctant to continue medicines for prescribed periods because they are not aware of this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dehradun: For years, a Dehradun resident struggled silently with depression without realising she needed professional help. \u201cMy family&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[325638,325639,325637,64,63,106004,325623,325620,136561,4830,325616,325622,325635,325636,325634,32738,137,325619,325633,325621,325630,248440,514,83048,325640,325617,515,219452,325618,325631,325627,51723,325624,270156,45463,325625,151850,325626,39080,325629,325628,325632],"class_list":["post-675433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-0-75-psychiatrists-per-100","tag-000-people","tag-2025-government-data","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-clinical-psychologist","tag-coronation-hospital","tag-costly-therapy","tag-dehradun","tag-depression","tag-doon","tag-doon-hospital","tag-dr-jaya-nawani","tag-dr-nisha-singla","tag-dr-rashi-bhatnagar","tag-government-hospitals","tag-health","tag-in-person-therapy","tag-india-mental-health-statistics","tag-long-waiting-times","tag-medical-students-in-consultations","tag-medicine-shortages","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-health-disorders","tag-mental-health-support-in-government-medical-colleges","tag-mental-healthcare-crisis","tag-mentalhealth","tag-patient-privacy","tag-private-therapy","tag-pseudo-seizures","tag-psychiatric-medicines","tag-psychiatrists","tag-psychiatry-department","tag-psychologists","tag-public-hospitals","tag-shortage-of-mental-health-professionals","tag-social-stigma","tag-stigma-around-psychiatric-drugs","tag-therapy","tag-trainee-supervision","tag-treatment-discontinuation","tag-unicef-data"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}