Telepsychiatry -another window to escape from poverty (Preprint)
UNSTRUCTURED People living in poverty are in greater risk of developing mental health issues due to its association with various stressors such as decreased productivity, loss of employment, reduced social support, stigma etc. Low socioeconomic status can hinder one’s access to mental health care and can lead him to devastating consequences. Even though Bangladesh has made a significant progress in eradicating poverty, the recent pandemic of COVID-19 has overburdened its resource limited healthcare settings. However, during lockdown a large number of people are experiencing a deterioration in their socioeconomic condition and this can negatively impact their mental health. Like many other developing countries, Bangladesh do not have equitable distribution of mental healthcare facilities in urban and rural areas. Distance to mental health care canter along with social stigma discourage people to get professional help. The psychological sufferings of the people can be mitigated by ensuring remote consultation through telepsychiatry services where the patients can maintain anonymity and escape the social stigma. Moreover, with the recent progress in using mobile phone and related technologies, telepsychiatry services will not only help the patients to reduce their access to service gap in an affordable way but also the mental health professionals will be able to help more patients. Telepsychiatry interventions can contribute to early diagnosis of mental health issues in population and this can reduce the chances of suicide and other morbidities. In resource limited settings, mental healthcare services aided with technology can overcome the barriers to access to care. In an addition to that, the mental well-being of individuals will enable them to lead an economically productive life with active contribution at workplaces.