Mental health will now be insured

Therapy might no longer remain a luxury with health insurance covering mental illnesses as well.

Transcript

00:00You might have missed this, but your health insurance company is now supposed to cover mental illness too.

00:04I HAVE BEGUN THERAPY

00:06In India, this could be a much-needed step to recognize that mental health is as important as physical health.

00:12In October 2022, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority told health insurers that they need to cover mental illnesses too.

00:19This is a big step considering how mental health issues are usually considered taboo.

00:23Common people consider every mental illness to be madness.

00:26The NCRB reported one death by suicide every 4 minutes in 2019.

00:31At least one student committed suicide every hour that year.

00:34In 2021, one woman committed suicide every 9 minutes.

00:39And the suicide rate amongst men was even higher.

00:41These numbers might seem like a lot to grasp, but they highlight the problem of mental illnesses in India, something that is stigmatized a lot.

00:49I AM NOT MAD! I AM NOT MAD!

00:51But public figures like Deepika Padukone, Virat Kohli and Alia Bhatt have opened up about their struggles with mental health issues.

00:57I just didn't know what to do, what to say to anyone, how to speak, how to communicate.

01:02And to be honest, there wasn't any...

01:05Like, I couldn't have said, I'm not feeling great mentally and I need to get away from the game because you never know how that's taken.

01:11Depression is like any other illness that requires intervention.

01:15The topic even made it to several films like Mani Chitra Taal, Aparichit, Barfi, Dear Zimbabwe and Tamasha.

01:22It's okay to cry. Okay, I have to come and sit.