Time Now for Counselling

If psychological counselling is an indicator of rising affluence, then Indian Finance Minister Manmohan Singh has every reason to feel satisfied. For, the cities of India are seeing a spurt in the demand for psychiatric help by men and women on the fast track.

Professional counselling is no longer seen as the recourse of crazies, and patients are walking in through the doors of clinics with the kinds of stress-related problems that their ancestors never had to face. "People no longer feel that it is only the ´mad´ who need to go see a counsellor," says Dr Rajesh Parikh, a neuro-psychiatrist with the prestigious Jaslok Hospital in Bombay.

One of the many changes that the Nervous Nineties have brought with them is the breakup of joint-families. The dynamics of family-living having undergone a complete transformation for millions, and the traditional ´buffers´ in the form of live-in parents and relatives are being replaced by artificial support systems, such as maids and creches. As adult children spin off to lead independent lives and, subsequently, to raise nuclear families, a host of psycho-social tensions arise.

The new problems have their origins primarily in the sudden transition, and the inability to meet demands and expectations. For a city-based couple trying to juggle work, children and housekeeping, while also maintaining a social life, the management of it all can be quite unnerving. For many, it leads to mental breakdown.

Personal anxieties that were looked into sympathetically by family elders have now to be resolved by professional counsellors. "Psychiatric counselling is a new phenomenon in India, simply because the problems we´re facing as a society are also new," says Dr Preeti S. Dhawan, a leading practitioner in Delhi. "The increased responsibilities of the couple give rise to a lot of psychological tension. They feel snowed under and want advice on how to cope."

Married working women face additional stress of a kind that are altogether different, having to do with expectations of husbands and society. The economically empowered woman is gaining a new perspective on life and is questioning traditional social mores and social conventions. She is willing to compromise less than before with, say, than an unsupportive husband or a harassing boss.

"This newfound assertiveness causes quite a few ripples in personal lives," saysDr Vimla Lai, of the Psychological Foundation in New Delhi. "By force of circumstance, the women are rebelling on more than one front, and more often than not they are alone and without understanding and support."

Ripples are also being caused by sex-related problems that have arrived with the changed lifestyles. Contraceptives have increased the sexual freedom for high-living urbanites, and the professional workplace provides more opportunity for extra-marital relationships. This, too, is leading to new problems among spouses and problems of sexual maladjustment. Says Dr N.K. Bohra, a Delhi-based psycho-counsellor, "Thirty to forty percent of my cases fall within this category, where the couple´s sexual life is in turmoil."

While independent-minded adults are facing their own challenges with sexuality, India´s MTV generation is growing up without guidance at home or school while being bombarded with sexually suggestive programming produced for a Western teenage audience. As a result, says Dr Dhawan, there is a lot of sexual confusion and misinformation among Indian teenagers. "The traditional role models having broken down, and youngsters are now looking for them in the permissive West, through satellite television."

It was inevitable. The mechanics of modern living has brought sophistication as well as psychological dislocation, and with the fallback of family ties no longer there, the only option is to go for paid professional service. And the one good trend in all this is that those in need of counselling are willing to shed their inhibitions and visit the clinic for a session.