An Exploratory Study of Awareness about Five Concerned Mental Disorders among the Rural Population of Ahmedabad District

The National Mental Health Survey estimated that about 10.6% of the population currently suffered from a mental disorder. The treatment gap was found to be 76%–85% in developing countries. To get the large Indian population involved in their own mental health, the only way forward is through enhancing awareness on mental health. The aim of this study was to know about awareness of five concerned mental disorders, i.e., depression, anxiety, mania, schizophrenia, and substance use disorder among the rural population of India. A total of 1000 samples were collected randomly from seven villages of Ahmedabad district. Participants were aged 18 years or above. The questionnaire consisted of description and pictorial representation of five mental illnesses, namely, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, mania, and substance use disorder, in Gujarati language. The participants were asked if they could identify the characteristics as disorders and whether it was treatable by a doctor. The awareness of participants was determined based on that. In our study, out of 1000 participants, we found that 577 (57.7%) participants could identify mental disorders and 518 (51.8%) acknowledged that the latter were medically treatable. Only 493 (49.3%) were aware of both. Out of 577 participants who could identify the disorders, 146 (14.6%) participants were not aware about the treatment availability by a doctor. There was no significant difference in awareness across different sociodemographic variables. There is poor awareness regarding mental health disorders and treatment availability for the same among the rural population of Ahmedabad.