General mental health status
Mental health in Sri Lanka
Mental illness here is common, under-recognised, and — for the great majority of people affected — treatable.
10%
of people are known to suffer from mental disorders that require clinical intervention
70%
of patients seen in hospitals or clinics are diagnosed with psychosis or mood disorders
70,000
Sri Lankans are estimated to suffer from schizophrenia
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Dementia is on the increase, and rates of suicide have gone up
Source: Manaveli project brief, Mental Health Society, 2021. These figures are undated in the source document and are being confirmed against national statistics before publication.
The national picture
About 10 per cent of people in Sri Lanka are known to suffer from mental disorders that require clinical intervention. Nearly 70 per cent of patients seen in hospitals or clinics are diagnosed with psychosis or mood disorders. An estimated 70,000 Sri Lankans suffer from schizophrenia. Dementia is on the increase. Rates of suicide have gone up.
Conditions most often seen
Among the most common conditions seen in clinical practice are:
How care is organised
Psychiatric practice tends to be based on the biomedical approach and relies mainly on the use of drugs and other medical therapy. Patients who need or seek other treatments are referred to non-medical mental health professionals.
In practice this means the first point of contact for most people is a general hospital or a primary medical care institution, rather than a specialist service — which is why the Ministry of Health’s guideline for primary care staff matters so much, and why public understanding of the early signs makes a measurable difference to how quickly people are seen.