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People get really irritated by mental illness.

Most of the people who make decisions about global health are in the U.S. and Western Europe. There, the mental health care system is dominated by highly trained, expensive professionals in big hospitals, who often see patients over long periods of time. This simply can't be done in rural Africa or India. Who the hell can afford that kind of care?

Mental illness leaves a huge legacy, not just for the person suffering it but for those around them.

Mental illness is a disease and organic mental illness of young kids is becoming more and more of a disease... we do need to talk about it.

It's my belief that, since the end of the Second World War, psychology has moved too far away from its original roots, which were to make the lives of all people more fulfilling and productive, and too much toward the important, but not all-important, area of curing mental illness.

Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with.

People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another.

I want to break down some of the stigma associated with mental illness.

Children have to be provided a nurturing environment to grow. Sadly, in India we don't have a robust mental health programme for children. There is also a lack of accountability in the public system.