As someone who witnessed this issue up close, it is heartening to have the personal driving force in Her Majesty Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck leading the charge. This gives me hope, because mental health is not only so underrated, it is even ostracised in Bhutan.

At the centre of this silent plague is our younger generation (that’s why suicides are common), who seems to be generally hit. The recent suicide of the girl from Samtse is still haunting me, although I don’t know who she was personally. But she was someone’s daughter.

That may be an extreme case. Ironically, many are suffering even without themselves knowing they do. It could manifest in anything from chronic suicidal thoughts to mild delusions of life, which is evident from toxic comments people make on social media – and everything in between including additions of all sorts.

Don’t oversimplify. It is complicated.

What is sad about this issue is, we oversimplify the problem with statements like, ‘You come from a good family. Why do you have depression? ‘ Or ostracise anyone with some issue as ‘mentally sick’ or as a ‘weakling’.

The root cause of the mental problem is unknown. It could be a combination of many things, such as physical and emerging social issues, unresolved PTSD and childhood trauma, and even the food we eat and the lifestyle choices we make, and the technology and social media content we consume and people we choose to follow or surround with.

Among many other emerging developments that could fertilise the problem, the increased rate of urbanisation, loss of social safety, worsening economic condition and loneliness from the outmigration and the invasion of technology in our lives will only aggravate the mental health in the coming years. The trigger point was the long Covid pandemic, which we are still trying to recover from – physically, economically and socially.

Seek Help

Whatever, do not shrug it off as someone’s problem, or be in denial mode if you notice anything in your family. A specialised centre has been inaugurated in Thimphu under the Royal Patronage. Make use of it. Seek help.

Be informed. Be bold. Be educated before it gets you and those close to you, if it hasn’t already.