Quick answer: India’s strategy for mental health research, set out in the early 2000s, rested on four goals: reduce the burden of mental disorders, make services available to everyone, promote positive mental health, and build lasting research capacity. Much has changed since then. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 made access to care a legal right, the District Mental Health Programme now covers 767 districts, and the Tele-MANAS helpline (14416) launched in 2022. The core problem remains, though: the National Mental Health Survey found that 70% to 92% of people with mental disorders were not getting treatment.
This article first reproduced ideas from a 2004 editorial in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR) by psychiatrist R. Srinivasa Murthy, titled “Mental health in the new millennium: research strategies for India”. The version below summarises that strategy and its history in our own words, and updates it with what has happened since. It was last checked in October 2026.
Mental health in India: where things stand now
- How common mental disorders are: The National Mental Health Survey 2015-16, conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), found that 10.6% of adults had a mental disorder at the time of the survey, and 13.7% had had one at some point in their lives.
- The national burden: A 2020 study in The Lancet Psychiatry by the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative estimated that 197.3 million people in India had a mental disorder in 2017. These included about 45.7 million with depressive disorders and 44.9 million with anxiety disorders.
- The treatment gap: Government summaries of the survey put the share of people with mental disorders who receive no treatment at 70% to 92%, depending on the disorder.
- Workforce: According to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) note, India had about 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in 2021, against a World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark of 3.
A second National Mental Health Survey (NMHS-2) is being prepared by NIMHANS. Its results had not been published when this guide was checked.
A short history of mental health research and care in India
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has supported mental health research since India’s early epidemiological studies, including the pioneering community survey in Agra by Dr K.C. Dube. Milestones mentioned in the 2004 editorial include:
- 1980s task forces: ICMR’s “Strategies for Mental Health Research” programme set national research priorities through task forces.
- Acute psychosis research: Indian studies of acute psychosis and of the course and outcome of schizophrenia shaped care in India. They also contributed to the inclusion of “acute and transient psychotic disorders” as a separate diagnostic category in the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10).
- Advanced centres: in the 1980s, ICMR set up centres for community mental health in Bangalore, mental health of the aged in Madurai and biological psychiatry in Lucknow.
- Disaster mental health: ICMR studied the mental health effects of the Bhopal gas disaster, the Marathwada earthquake, the Gujarat earthquake and a fire tragedy in Delhi. Partly as a result, psychosocial support is now a routine part of disaster response in India.
Services grew alongside the research:
- 1950s to 1970s: mental hospitals were set up, followed by psychiatric units in general hospitals, and families began to be involved in care.
- 1982: the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) was adopted. It aimed to integrate mental health into general and primary health care.
- Late 1980s: after demonstration projects at Chandigarh and Bangalore, NIMHANS developed the district model of care.
- 1996: the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) started in 4 districts. It reached 27 districts during the Ninth Five Year Plan.
Key laws and policies
| Year | Law, policy or event | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1912 | Indian Lunacy Act | Colonial-era law focused on detention, later replaced by the Mental Health Act, 1987 |
| 1982 | National Mental Health Programme | First national plan to bring mental health into general health care |
| 1995 | Persons with Disabilities Act | Equal opportunities and rights; replaced by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 |
| 2001 | Erwadi tragedy, Tamil Nadu | 28 people with mental illness, chained at a faith-healing centre, died in a fire. The tragedy led to Supreme Court and NHRC scrutiny of mental health care. |
| 2001 | WHO World Health Report on mental health | Its framework, “Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope”, guided policies in developing countries |
| 2014 | National Mental Health Policy | India’s first national mental health policy |
| 2017 | Mental Healthcare Act | Rights-based law that repealed the Mental Health Act, 1987 |
| 2022 | Tele-MANAS launched (10 October) | Free national tele-mental health helpline |
| 2024 | Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in force | Replaced the Indian Penal Code; the general offence of attempted suicide (Section 309 IPC) was not carried over |
What the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 changed
The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 replaced the older custodial approach with a rights-based one:
- Right to care (Section 18): every person has a right to access mental healthcare and treatment from services run or funded by the government.
- Advance directives (Section 5): a person can state in advance how they wish to be treated, or not treated, if they later lose capacity to decide.
- Mental Health Review Boards oversee admissions and protect patients’ rights.
- Banned practices (Section 95): electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) without anaesthesia and muscle relaxants, ECT for minors, sterilisation as a treatment, and chaining in any form.
- Attempted suicide (Section 115): a person who attempts suicide is presumed to have severe stress and must not be punished. The government must provide care and rehabilitation.
Since the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024, the general offence of attempting suicide has gone. Section 226 of the new code punishes only an attempt made to compel or restrain a public servant from carrying out official duty.
The research strategy: goals and priorities
The 2004 IJMR editorial proposed that India’s mental health research agenda should pursue four goals:
- reduce how often mental and behavioural disorders occur, and the burden they cause;
- develop and evaluate services so they become available and accessible to the whole population;
- improve the positive mental health of the population;
- build lasting structures for mental health research and for sharing mental health information.
To reach them, it suggested four strategies:
- give a research and evaluation base to expanding services, both public (NMHP) and private;
- generate new knowledge about the nature, course and outcome of mental disorders;
- develop measures to monitor the mental health of communities;
- build research capacity and share findings with the public, policymakers and professionals.
The editorial listed these priority areas:
- Service development: integrating mental health into primary care, early intervention in psychosis, family support, community-based long-term care, evaluating suicide prevention and mental health in schools.
- New knowledge: the course and outcome of disorders, medicine-based and non-medicine treatments for common disorders, the mental health of women and adolescents, disaster mental health, culturally appropriate assessment tools, health systems research, spirituality and health, and the biology of mental disorders.
- Indicators: measures of services, the burden of disorders and the impact of alcohol and substance use.
- Capacity: centres of excellence to support young researchers, regular compilation of Indian research data, and greater use of information technology.
The editorial also recalled the vision of Dr Govindaswamy, an early leader of the All India Institute of Mental Health (now NIMHANS) in Bangalore. He described three objectives:
- restoring health for people who are mentally ill;
- protecting healthy people who are at risk of becoming ill;
- promoting positive mental health for everyone, through secure, affectionate and satisfying relationships and less hostility in the community.
How the strategy compares with today
When the editorial was written, the challenges it named were stark. There were about 10,000 mental health professionals and about 30,000 psychiatric beds for over a billion people, public spending on health was low, and poverty and stigma were widespread. Two decades on, several of its proposals have been put into practice:
- Integration with general health care: the DMHP has grown from 27 districts to 767 sanctioned districts, according to a March 2026 government reply in Parliament.
- Use of information technology: Tele-MANAS has more than 50 cells across all states and union territories, offers counselling in 20 languages and had handled over 40 lakh calls by June 2026, according to PIB.
- Measuring the burden: the National Mental Health Survey and the state-level disease burden studies now give India its own data, as the editorial urged.
- Training capacity: the Union Budget 2026-27 announced a second NIMHANS for north India and upgrades to the Central Institute of Psychiatry in Ranchi and LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health in Tezpur.
The research agenda has also been refreshed. In 2025, ICMR published a Delphi exercise in the IJMR in which experts ranked national mental health research priorities. The top three were:
- suicide prevention in schools and colleges;
- integrating screening and treatment for mental disorders into care for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension;
- reducing the treatment gap.
For anyone planning research in this field, our guide to designing clinical studies covers the basics of study design.
The biggest challenge the editorial identified remains: too few professionals and too little care for the number of people who need it. Closing that gap will depend on primary care, community workers, digital services and families working together, the community-based and community-intensive approach the editorial called for.
Where to get help
- Tele-MANAS: call 14416 or 1-800-891-4416, free, at any time, in many Indian languages.
- Emergencies: if someone is in immediate danger, call 112 or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.
- Families going through difficult transitions, such as separation, can also find practical advice in our guide to supporting a child’s health after divorce.
Frequently asked questions
What is the National Mental Health Programme?
The NMHP, adopted in 1982, is India’s national programme to provide community-based mental health care through the general health system. Its main arm, the District Mental Health Programme, now operates in 767 sanctioned districts.
Is attempted suicide a crime in India?
Not in general. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 presumes that a person who attempts suicide is under severe stress and directs the government to provide care. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaced the Indian Penal Code from 1 July 2024, keeps only a narrow offence for attempts made to coerce a public servant.
What is Tele-MANAS?
Tele-MANAS is the Government of India’s free tele-mental health service, launched on 10 October 2022. You can reach it on 14416 or 1-800-891-4416 for counselling and referral.
How many people in India have a mental disorder?
The National Mental Health Survey 2015-16 found that 10.6% of adults had a current mental disorder. A 2020 Lancet Psychiatry study estimated that 197.3 million Indians had a mental disorder in 2017.
What are India’s current mental health research priorities?
An ICMR-led expert exercise published in 2025 ranked suicide prevention in schools and colleges, integrating mental health into care for non-communicable diseases, and reducing the treatment gap as the top three priorities.
This article was checked in October 2026 against the 2004 IJMR editorial by R. Srinivasa Murthy, the National Mental Health Survey 2015-16, the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, PIB releases on the DMHP and Tele-MANAS, the 2020 Lancet Psychiatry burden study and ICMR’s 2025 research-priority paper. An earlier version quoted a research grant as “Rs 10 crore (US$22.2 million)”; that figure could not be verified and the conversion was wrong, so it has been removed.
