India is officially the ‘world's most depressed country’. A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report declared that India displays the highest rates of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia, claiming that at least 6.5 per cent of its population suffers from mental illness (WHO, 2017). This is a crisis and India is right at the centre, with over 50 million depressed Indians in 2015 and the highest number of suicides in 2012. The complex situation is further compounded by the fact that mental health is still a taboo topic in the country, with a lack of an active public discourse. The year 2020, with the ongoing pandemic and subsequent lockdown, might just prove to be the proverbial straw on the camel's back, as reported mental health cases have seen a steep rise by 20 per cent since the lockdown was imposed in India, according to a study by the Indian Psychiatric Society in April 2020 (Andrade, 2020).

By 2020, India is set to become the world's ‘youngest country’ with 64 per cent of its population being of working age. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent contractive effects on local and global economies present critical challenges in terms of economic opportunities for the young working population. An International Labour Organisation (ILO) report in May 2020 stated that over one in six people aged 29 have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and that young people are being severely affected due to disruption in education, employment and training.

Young people are already being disproportionately affected by mental health problems. WHO data pegs suicide as the second leading cause of death among 15-to 29-year-olds, with 79 per cent of global suicides happening in low-to middle-income countries like India. Multiple shocks are bound to have critical repercussions on the Indian youth population.

The burden of this mental health crisis is multifold: it has a tremendous impact on individual well-being, on productivity and, ultimately, on society and the economy. At this juncture, the question about the extent to which India can truly reap the benefits of the demographic dividend is still relevant. Especially if its population is not mentally healthy and affordable mental healthcare remains, by and large, inaccessible, particularly at a time when the world is reeling under an unprecedented crisis.