Psychology as an academic discipline, as a profession, and also as a practice arena intrigues the global student population. Millions of people across the globe get attracted to it and seek admission to various psychology programmes, though only a portion of them get into it. The applicability of psychology knows no limits as wherever animates operate, psychology invariably finds a place there. However, the major areas in which psychology operates include, but not limited to, general health and mental health support systems, organisations and industries of differing nature, the criminal justice system, education, social welfare, defence, etc. The demand for psychology professionals maintains an ascending trend over years disregarding the geographical regions.
Mental health support provision is a challenge to even developed countries due to a shortage of psychologists. The current pandemic of COVID-19 vividly exposed the world’s inadequate preparedness to address the mental health needs of its populations during emergencies. The recent statistics portray that one in every seven Indians experiences a mental disorder ranging from mild to severe. But more than 75% of Indians who develop mental disorders do not have access to any mental health support provisions. The acute shortage of psychologists is one of the major contributing factors to this situation. Raising the number of academic programmes nationally to generate many more quality psychologists is the first line of intervention to address this situation.
Among the mental disorders that manifest predominantly during adulthood, the highest disease burden in India is caused by depressive and anxiety disorders, followed by schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Going by the prevalence of these disorders, Kerala emerges as the top hit state. Kerala also ironically finds its place in the top five states with the highest rates of suicide and divorce. All these eloquently highlight the need and importance of launching psychology programmes to generate psychologists at different levels in Kerala.
Life amid gadgets and information technology pushed people into a life of alienation filled with frustration and other existential problems leading to many marching towards a psychologist’s office. Societies are getting more complex and complicated with terrorism, wealth concentration, power inequation, etc. with sparse psychological facilities for its members to turn to. This makes the demand for psychological support at the grassroots level an absolute necessity and hence massification of psychological training and education is the only foreseeable solution.
The need and demand for psychologists in other areas of operation is also on the steady increase these years. The National Education Policy 2020 mandates that all schools should be equipped with professionals who could psychologically support students. To live up to this dream at least in a decade, dramatic investment in psychology education is a non-negotiable must. It was against this backdrop and with the greatest sense of national commitment and responsibility that CVV launched its psychology programmes at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
