Access to Mental Health Care in Bhutan: Current Status, Potential Challenges, and Ways Out

Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia and is known for its cultural heritage. Compared to the neighbouring nations, there has been a late start of mental health care and services in Bhutan. However, the principle of mental health care in Bhutan is guided by the policy of gross happiness index which includes psychological well-being. Though very little reliable data is available on the prevalence of mental illness in the country the full range of major mental illnesses exists in Bhutan. There has been a slow and steady improvement in mental health services, however, with the establishment of the Pema Centre, which will be a dedicated centre to address mental health problems in the country, the care for people with mental health problems is expected to improve in the coming years. There are many challenges in mental health care in Bhutan like stigma, lack of awareness, less manpower, centralized services, dearth of research and information management etc. In this chapter, we discuss the historical aspects of the mental health care system, and the current scenario in regard to the burden and services and challenges regarding the mental health care system of Bhutan. We also discuss country-specific ways forward.