Addressing Mental Health Challenges

Our country’s approach to mental health care is a patchwork of underfunded programmes, neglected policies, and insufficient services that barely scratch the surface of a growing crisis. Patan Mental Hospital, the country's only government-run mental hospital, has as few as 50 beds and is overburdened with the rising number of patients requiring inpatient care. This is a dire situation, considering that mental health problems are becoming increasingly prevalent, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a country where the mentally ill are often subjected to stigmatisation and abuse, the state of psychiatric care is nothing short of a human rights disaster.