President Ramnath Kovind launched the 21st World Congress of Mental Health, organised by the World Federation for Mental Health in partnership with Caring Foundation and other institutions.
He added that the biggest obstacle mental health patients encounter is stigma and denial.
A major gap in combating the mental health challenge, experts said, is that of human resource. India has 1.25 billion people but just 700,000 doctors - less than one million.
In the field of mental health, the scarcity is even more acute. There are only about 5,000 psychiatrists and less than 2,000 clinical psychologists in the country.
The President said that India's National Mental Health Programme is building 22 centres of excellence in the field of mental health.
The District Mental Health Programme has already covered 517 of 650 districts in India. It is taking the conversation about mental health to the grass-root of society.
The World Congress of Mental Health will comprise key sessions such as those on terrorism and mental health care; the Mental Health Care Act, 2017; role of films and mental healthcare; spirituality and guru as therapist; Vishwa Samvad, which is a global dialogue across stakeholders, including patients and caregivers; sports and mental health; and youth and mental healthcare.
