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Unlike other diseases, mental health-related issues are the ones that get neglected the most in our country. Many people blame the ignorance of people regarding the importance of good mental health.
However, there is another thing that might be playing its role like a ghost in terms of discouraging people to take any mental health counselling, which is the high fees that are being charged for ‘premium’ mental health services.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIHM), almost 17 per cent of adults of this country suffer from mental health issues and among them 16.8 per cent are male and 17 per cent are female. Unfortunately, 92.3 per cent of them don't seek any counselling.
Where lack of mental health experts is a reason for this, we cannot overlook the high fees a psychiatrist or psychologist charges for each session.
"I feel the urge to see a counsellor these days but the charge that I’ve to pay for my mental health makes me more anxious,” shared Maisha Tahsin, a BBA student from Brac University.
“Mental health is still not considered an issue among the lower or middle-class. This is why people like us prefer to struggle with the mental issue as it is a normal thing rather than going to a specialist for remedy," she said.
This scenario is actually common across countries around the world. According to a report by Forbes, in the USA, it costs US$100 to 200 on average for each psychotherapy session.
Although there is no concrete research on the average amount in our country, the writer’s personal experience says it is Tk 1,500-2,000 for each session.
In the neighbouring country India, the average cost for consulting a psychologist starts from Rupees 500 which is equivalent to almost Tk 569. It costs only 100 Pakistani Rupees for a person in Pakistan to have a counselling session by a psychology graduate.
In a recently conducted poll on whether people feel the mental health session charges are or not, 87 per cent agreed that mental health treatments are too costly.
Tasneem Nushi, an intern doctor at Cumilla Medical College, who had consulted mental health experts before, considered not continuing her treatment at one point.
According to her, mental health professionals should charge a maximum of Tk 1,000-1,200 for each session.
"Firstly, you have to define a mental health expert. There are two types of mental health experts. Generally, psychiatrists provide minimal time for their patients but mental health experts whose work is based on psychological treatment provide 45-50 minutes for a patient. Sometimes, it takes more than one hour,” Nushi sheds some light on the fact whether they are overpaid or not.
“Whereas a psychiatrist sees several patients in an hour, a psychologist sees 1 patient in that period. So, we can understand easily whether psychologists are being overpaid or not."
Shabnam Koli Anne, an assistant clinical psychologist at icddr,b, thinks that psychologists invest more time in their patients and it's only fair that they charge higher than other health experts for their service.
Ms Shabnam is right with her logic, however, in a lower-middle-income country like ours, treating mental health with that much money is considered luxury for many.
That said, it is clear that people’s unawareness is not the sole reason behind the low number of mental health treatment recipients in our country.
If these charges could be optimised and brought within the reach of the lower-income section of the people, the number of people willing to take mental health treatment could have increased and we could secure a mentally healthy future.