The United States Ambassador to Nepal, Randy Berry, has stressed that utilizing digital platforms in the right way can help to address mental health issues. Sharing his insights during a virtual panel discussion titled ‘Beyond Hashtags: Mental Health Activism in Nepal’, organized today by the United States Embassy in Nepal, Ambassador Berry said, “Digital platforms that are available to most of us nowadays, when used in the right way, can enable so many connections for people struggling with mental health issues.”
Highlighting that exploration of the connection between social media and mental health is an urgent issue for Nepal, Ambassador Berry added, “Connected technologies can place treatment and management in the hands of the person experiencing the illness subsequently empowering and enabling a sense of engagement and personhood.” Although mental illness costs lives, it also causes families to suffer since, in most parts of the world, mental illness and disorders are not regarded with anything like the same importance as physical health, he added.
Ambassador Berry highlighted that stigma is the primary reason why individuals do not disclose or seek treatment that could alleviate symptoms of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder amongst many others.
The U.S. Mission in Nepal has been working hand in hand with communities to empower the Nepalese people to live independently with dignity and with the full realization of their human rights. Ambassador Berry said that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been at the forefront of mental health assistance to Nepal.
- USAID is engaged in empowering people with disabilities to live independently, working in the Morang, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Makwanpur, and Kailai districts of Provinces 1, 3, and 6 of Nepal
- After the devastating earthquake in 2015, USAID collaborated with the World Health Organization on the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Project which provided mental health and psychosocial support services to the victims of the earthquake
- Since the outbreak of the pandemic, USAID has provided extensive technical assistance, training, and equipment to assist the Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal to continue to offer essential health services such as one-on-one telephone counseling to 1.8 million families as well as counseling and psychological support to healthcare workers
Emphasizing that both Nepal and the U.S. share a common truth – the ability to connect with one another can transform, Ambassador Berry said, “When Nepal succeeds, so does the U.S., and that is why we are having this conversation that can empower and enable,” he added.
Ambassador Berry shared some striking statistics about mental health from the United States:
- In 2015, 1 in 5 Americans – or over 40 million people – were diagnosed with a mental illness
- An alarming percentage of children have a mental health disorder so serious that it affects their daily functioning – this is more than the number of children who have asthma and diabetes combined
- Over 40,000 people in America commit suicide every year which is equal to the same number of deaths as breast cancer – the most common cancer in women
- It is also more than the number of deaths from prostate cancer – the most common cancer in men and three times the number of homicides that occur each year
Stressing the importance of finding ways to address serious mental health professional shortages in rural and underserved areas, Ambassador Berry concluded, “The kind of transformative shift in mental healthcare for Nepal will require clinicians, policymakers and innovators to exercise foresight and courage – to solve both longstanding and spot emerging issues.”
