The US and India can work together on mental health: Surgeon General Murthy Foreign Defense Security News

He said he is proud of the US-India health partnership that spans six decades, during which both countries have worked to fight smallpox, polio, HIV, tuberculosis and Covid-19, among many other health challenges. health.

“It is time for us to come together as two nations to work on mental health, and the work we do together can benefit not just our two countries, but the entire world. forward,” he said.

Appointed by President Joe Biden, Murthy serves as America's top doctor and is charged with promoting and protecting public health. He is the first General Surgeon of Indian origin and his parents are from Karnataka.

While visiting the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), he discussed the many collaborations already underway here, he said, adding that several U.S. health centers and U.S. government agencies are helping to support. and funding of research projects and, in some cases, collaborative carrying out of research projects focused on mental health.

“We are proud of this collaboration and have more ideas about how this collaboration can grow in the future. We have a lot we can learn from each other. We have a lot we can do with each other and we are doing it today. I talked about a lot of challenges and places…” he said.

Citing the reason the trip focuses on mental health, Murthy said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that we are experiencing a growing mental health crisis… it is hitting young people especially hard.”

For a long time, it was something we didn't talk about openly, he said. “There is this unfortunate stigma and shame associated with mental health that prevents people from admitting they are going through difficult times. It becomes difficult for them to seek help, even if that help is available.”

Noting that during the visit he spent time with students, community organizations, hospitals and healthcare providers in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and learned how India was facing and responding to the mental health crisis, he said, “What I heard It was about three of the main contributors that people contribute to this mental health crisis in their lives is loneliness and isolation, which has become an epidemic in the United States and around the world.”

“The second was the impact of social media on young people, and the third was the pressure that many students say they face now, pressure that often feels overwhelming and unbearable,” he said.

Mental health is no less important than physical health and ultimately affects physical health, the US Surgeon General says it is time to prioritize access to care, which continues to be a global challenge, and focus on prevention, the root cause of this larger mental health challenge.

“In medicine, we focus too much on treatment and often not enough on prevention. This is a time when we cannot do that. We have to do both,” he said, highlighting that there is a lot of promising work happening, and that he gave hope

Noting that social media has fundamentally changed the way we talk and relate to each other, Murthy, citing his interactions with students, says, “One of the consequences we have seen is digital transformation. Relationships, but it’s something that we have What we have to address now is we have to actively build those social and emotional skills, relational skills for students.”

Defending legislative policy efforts to make social media safer, he said: “The policy changes I have called for apply in the United States, but the problem of social media and its impact on young people's mental health is felt in many countries and I think we should all look at this issue more deeply and ask ourselves: what can we do to protect children and that should only be said for the betterment of children and parents.

“…unless we make the platform safer, it will be difficult for parents and children to manage on their own,” he added.