COVER STORY
Another Mental Health Day is coming up. Increasing awareness must be matched with improving access to mental health services
Outlook Magazine - I Have a Lot Left Inside - 11 October 2025 Issue
As the world prepares to observe World Mental Health Day on October 10, a troubling paradox persists. On one hand, conversations around mental health have become louder and more visible than ever before. But amidst this growing awareness, silence and stigma continue to linger beneath the surface. In the latest World Mental Health Day issue of Outlook, titled I Have a Lot Left Inside (October 11, 2025), we delve into the challenges faced by those living with mental health struggles, as well as the experiences of those who dedicate their lives to offering care and support.
How do people deal with the unbearable emptiness of being when the system commodifies everything, including love, sex and companionship?
Oscillation is an attempt to weave an intergenerational dialogue about care, memory, and the shaping of identity.
Dr Pratima Murthy is the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. She has about 30 years of extensive experience in the field of mental health. A leader in addiction psychiatry, she has been recognised for her contribution in improving care for persons with mental illness through her work with the National Human Rights Commission on quality assurance in mental healthcare, both in institutions and in the community. Dr Murthy spoke to Avantika Mehta about the infrastructural gaps in mental healthcare in India and NIMHANS’ ongoing efforts to raise awareness about mental illness
In Indian prisons, where the incarcerated are robbed of basic human dignity, conversations about mental health are a formidable challenge.
India is home to over 700 Scheduled Tribe communities, along with many unrecognised groups that form a vital part of the country’s indigenous populations. It raises a crucial question—does tribal mental health even exist as a recognised concept?
The author, who spent 10 years in jail, details the painful experiences of the inmates and the cold attitude of the authorities
What is the link between creativity and mental health? A journey through words, silence, and survival.
About one crore Indians over 60 years old have dementia. But the availability of services does not match the demand
Lack of freedom of choice and agency—mental health fallouts for the rural youth.
How do people deal with the unbearable emptiness of being when the system commodifies everything, including love, sex and companionship?
Oscillation is an attempt to weave an intergenerational dialogue about care, memory, and the shaping of identity.
Dr Pratima Murthy is the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. She has about 30 years of extensive experience in the field of mental health. A leader in addiction psychiatry, she has been recognised for her contribution in improving care for persons with mental illness through her work with the National Human Rights Commission on quality assurance in mental healthcare, both in institutions and in the community. Dr Murthy spoke to Avantika Mehta about the infrastructural gaps in mental healthcare in India and NIMHANS’ ongoing efforts to raise awareness about mental illness
In Indian prisons, where the incarcerated are robbed of basic human dignity, conversations about mental health are a formidable challenge.
India is home to over 700 Scheduled Tribe communities, along with many unrecognised groups that form a vital part of the country’s indigenous populations. It raises a crucial question—does tribal mental health even exist as a recognised concept?
The author, who spent 10 years in jail, details the painful experiences of the inmates and the cold attitude of the authorities
What is the link between creativity and mental health? A journey through words, silence, and survival.
About one crore Indians over 60 years old have dementia. But the availability of services does not match the demand
Lack of freedom of choice and agency—mental health fallouts for the rural youth.
OTHER STORIES
Exploring the connection between mental health and creativity. A first-person account.
Why does the American-Indian community remain indifferent and silent when the US President seems determined to demolish Narendra Modi?
A protest on September 24 in Ladakh was meant to press the Centre for talks on statehood and Sixth Schedule status, but turned violent leaving four people dead and nearly 90 injured
One seeks similarities to make different places familiar and to find a common humanity.
Zubeen Garg’s ability to influence people, and to mobilise compassion and empathy is unmatched in recent memory, beyond the global celebrity of Michael Jackson or the magnetism of Princess Diana
