CM15.1-4 | Mental Health — Glossary

A legal document under MHCA 2017 in which a person with mental illness specifies their preferred treatment during a future episode, to be honoured when they lose capacity to decide.

Loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyed activities; a core symptom of depression and a major warning signal that distinguishes clinical depression from normal sadness or grief.

District Mental Health Officer: the senior psychiatrist based at the District Hospital who leads the DMHP team and provides specialist care, training, and supervision for PHC staff.

District Mental Health Programme (piloted Bellary 1996): the district-level operational arm of NMHP, providing outreach psychiatric services, PHC staff training, and community awareness from District Hospital level.

The proportion of a population that has had a condition at any point in their life; NMHS 2016 reports ~13.7% for mental disorders in Indian adults.

A state of well-being (WHO 2001) in which an individual realises their potential, copes with normal life stressors, works productively, and contributes to their community — distinct from the mere absence of mental disorder.

Mental Healthcare Act 2017: rights-based legislation replacing the Mental Health Act 1987, guaranteeing access to mental healthcare, confidentiality, advance directives, and decriminalising attempted suicide.

National Mental Health Programme (1982): the Government of India's framework for community-based mental health service delivery, integrating mental healthcare into the primary health network.

National Mental Health Survey of India 2015–16: nationally representative household survey of 34,802 adults across 12 states, providing the most current Indian prevalence data for mental disorders.

A person designated under MHCA 2017 by an individual with mental illness to make treatment decisions on their behalf when they are unable to do so.

Section 115 of MHCA 2017: decriminalises attempted suicide — presumes the person is under severe stress and mandates care rather than prosecution, removing the earlier IPC Section 309 liability.

Negative attitudes, discrimination, and social exclusion directed at people with mental illness; the leading demand-side barrier to mental health help-seeking in India.

A health system strategy in which specific clinical tasks are delegated from specialists to less-specialised workers (PHC doctors, ANMs, ASHAs) — the operational backbone of DMHP given India's psychiatrist shortage.

The proportion of people with a diagnosable mental disorder who receive no professional treatment; estimated at 80–85% in India across most disorder categories.

Early, recognisable changes in behaviour, emotion, thought, or function that suggest the onset of a mental disorder and prompt further assessment and referral — not diagnostic criteria.