Mental Health and Growing Scope of Psychology as a Career
Today, Mental illness is measured as a major concern worldwide. A well-known fact is that India is considered as a developing country because of its rapid economic growth. Even after all the modernization that is taking place in the country, there is one factor that is being deserted by the people in India, the increase in the rate of mental illness. According to a study reported in the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 6 to 7 percent of the Indian population is suffering from serious mental disorders. With the increase in the rate of mental illness in the country, awareness is being spread about the importance of mental wellness and emotional stability. The major reasons for mental illness today is an increase in stress and emotional breakdowns because of family and professionals issues that are pressuring the people mentally, the demand for Counsellors and Psychologists have risen.
The present generation is more interested in choosing liberal courses for their higher education and selecting it as a Career. There is a perception that the psychologists read human minds. No! It is a false perception. The psychology students and the psychologists study humans by their behavior. Sometimes we wonder about other behavior and try to find out the reasons for their behavior. So, if you keenly have a passion for learning the behaviors of people around you than psychology is a right career to choose. The three streams of psychology that are high in demand are Counsellors, Clinical Psychologists, and the Psychiatrists. The reasons for the growing scope of psychology as a career are as follows –
1. Passion to Study Behaviour of Humans –
The generation today is highly passionate in studying human behavior and research the causes, symptoms and the effects of mental disorders on the behavior of a person. This passion of the students about learning mental disorders and the factors causing illness has increased the scope of choosing psychology as a career.
2. Need for Psychologists –
In a country like India where the people suffering from mental illness or depression are considered to be as a MAD and the asylums are called MENTAL HOSPITALS. The country is facing a shortage of 300 percent psychologists, therefore directly or indirectly this has boosted the demand for the Psychologists or the Counsellors.
3. Wide Range of Opportunities –
The field of psychology has a wide range of career opportunities. There are various branches of psychologists like Clinical Psychologists, Child Psychologists, Industrial Psychologists, Forensic Psychologists and many more. Psychology is just one word and there are numerous sub-categories in this field to specialize in. Therefore, the large number of job opportunities is growing this field into a major career.
4. Highly Paid –
The number of people suffering from mental disorders is increasing because of the growing stress and mental pressure among the generation. But, the country is facing a shortage of psychologists and counselors, this has increased the demand of the working psychologists and the counselors. This has increased the remuneration of the present psychology practitioners, for example, the need for child psychology is growing and hence, every school is hiring a psychologist by paying the amount they demand. Psychology is a highly rewarding field as a career.
5. Presently a Career with High Scope –
The demand for the services of Psychologists is growing day-by-day. There is an average growth of 22 percent in this field in the past ten years, and this considered as the highest growth percent increased in any career in this decade. Increase in the interest of the students towards this subject and the high scopes abroad for psychology has turned out the subject psychology as a strong career.
The work of being a psychologist or a counselor is very challenging because they have to study humans with various behaviors and the reasons for such behaviors. The demand for this career will increase even more in the upcoming years because due to the increasing stress in today’s generation people are facing trouble in understanding their behavior and this is leading to several mental disorders. With the growing awareness about mental wellness, the people have started treating mental illness with proper treatment that is attending the counseling sessions. Therefore, all these aspects are growing the demands and scope for a career in psychology.