Mental Illness, Stigma and Khap panchayats: An overview

The relation between stigma and mental health has been the subject of research smce the past decades. These two most common public health concerns have been found to be strongly correlated. There are strong and consent evidences of negative effect of stigma in psychiatric patients that leads social isolation and lack of quality social support. The increased risk contributed by stigma is more deteriorating than the symptoms of the illness. Research on the relationship between stigma and psychiatric illness may be said to have evolved along two parallel paths. One has proved that people with mental illness fight with symptoms of illness. The other path has shown that they are confronted by prejudices people have, regarding them. Both paths have established negative findings suggesting that stigma is indeed linked to adverse outcomes. Both of them (mental illness and associated stigma) cause a significant decrease in quality of life for the patient and impose a significant economic burden on society. It is heartening to see the initiatives undertakenby mental health professionals at different levels, but there is still a long way to go. There is a strong need to involve societal agencies such as Khap Panchayats in the process of destigmatization of mental illness to eradicate mental illness and improve quality of life in this comparatively more vulnerable population. Although literature is available regarding the role and stand of Khaps in different social issues;but nothing has been available about possible role of Khap on mental health issues.