The Mounting Crisis of Mental Health in Panjab

April

2026

With the enactment of anti-sacrilege law—Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar—in Panjab, Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann said the culprits of sacrilege incidents could no longer escape the clutches of law and hailed the law as a step towards establishing communal harmony, while adding that it had been noticed that those accused of sacrilege pretended to be ‘mentally upset’. Since 2015, out of 597 incidents of sacrilege in Panjab and 791 of the accused, 15–30% have been found to be mentally unstable. The comment by CM might be misplaced, signaling not just a banal interpretation of mental health issues but also a structural crisis within the state on the matter. Panjab has no government-run homes for people with mental illness, leaving families as the primary caregivers when institutional support remains largely absent. Despite legal mandates for community-based facilities such as group homes under the Mental Healthcare Act 2017, the state grapples with a significant burden of untreated mental illness. As the state moves to count drug users through its census, the absence of a systematic push to treat mental illness exposes a critical gap in its public health response and lack of understanding on the subject. A 2025 survey conducted by Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences found a widespread prevalence of mental health conditions and gaps in access, awareness, and care. As per estimates presented in the Punjab and Haryana High Court there were 1.3M adults living with mental illnesses in the state in 2016. The survey was conducted across 60 clusters in four districts—Faridkot, Ludhiana, Moga, and Patiala—and 2,895 people aged 18 or older from 719 households were interviewed. The prevalence of lifetime and current mental morbidity was 17.94% and 13.42%, respectively. The lifetime prevalence of mood disorders was pegged at 7.58%, with depression accounting for nearly 95% of these cases. Neurotic and stress-related disorders had a current prevalence of 3.25%, while psychotic disorders affected a smaller but significant segment. The burden was higher among lower-income groups. In the end, it is not about ignoring those that are ‘mentally upset’ but understanding the real crisis at hand to really affect any significant change (earlier coverage).