NEW DELHI: Mental health concerns can persist for months, sometimes years, before people seek professional help. By then, the distress may be affecting their relationships, work and ability to manage everyday tasks. More than half of people who eventually sought care had lived with their concerns for over a year, while 56.2% reported thoughts of self-harm before reaching professional support, according to the Amaha Mental Health Report 2026.The report is based on responses from 13,825 people who answered questions before beginning care with the mental healthcare provider between October 2025 and September 2026. Only 11.3% sought help within a month of experiencing mental health concerns.Dr Amit Malik, psychiatrist, founder and CEO of Amaha, said, “India’s progress in mental health must be judged by whether people can get timely, effective care, not simply by how openly we talk about it. These are the accounts of people who reached us; they should make us ask who is still unable to access care.”He added that friends, families and communities were vital to helping people recognise their needs and find care, and said finding treatment should not become “another test of a person’s resilience”.Nearly 95% of respondents reported at least two concerns, averaging five each. Anxiety was most common (72.1%), followed by stress (67.5%), low mood (58.3%), relationship difficulties (55.6%) and sleep disturbances in over a third. The report also found a gap between self-reported distress and clinical diagnosis: 33% of those initially reporting stress were later diagnosed with depression, while among those reporting repetitive thoughts and behaviours, 32% were diagnosed with depression and 11% with obsessive-compulsive disorder.Before approaching a professional, many respondents relied on informal support or tried to manage their concerns on their own. More than half (54.5%) had spoken to friends or family, while 44.6% had turned to self-help resources such as books, apps, videos and online communities. Nearly a third had tried therapy previously, and 19.4% had used prescribed medication.Avoidant coping strategies, including excessive screen time, oversleeping and overworking, were reported by 82.7%. Another 15.4% said they had turned to alcohol or other harmful substances instead of professional support.The impact extended to everyday functioning. Only 12.3% said they could manage all their daily tasks, while 27.3% said they could not manage most tasks or any at all.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
Young adults and working professionals formed the bulk of the cohort. Those aged 25–34 accounted for 51.3% of respondents, followed by 26.9% aged 18–24. Working professionals made up 64.3%, while students accounted for 15.3% and unemployed people 7.9%.Friends were the most frequently named contact in a mental health crisis (33.9%), followed by spouses (20.5%) and siblings (18.1%), underscoring the role of family and social networks in recognising distress and helping people access care.
Leave a Reply