Impact of Urbanisation on Mental Disorders in SAARC Countries

Abstract

Mental disorder can be a determinant factor of a society’s health as it affects the most vital resource available within it, which is people who are a part of the workforce, form relationships, and act in an operational capacity within industries. This study explores the impact of urbanisation on the mental health situation in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. Quadratic polynomial regression was taken to quantify the impact in 08 countries between 1990 to 2019. The findings revealed that Sri Lanka shows a higher coefficient of 202.8%. It shows that when urbanisation increases by 1%, health expenditure is increased by 202.8%. The second largest coefficient is observed in Maldives, which is 0.3%. The result of this study contributes to the current knowledge in this area by assessing urbanisation’s impact on mental disorders in the SAARC countries. Therefore, the findings of this study will be helpful for policymakers to create effective policies and programmes that support mental health care in unprivileged urban areas and re-consider their urban development policies to prevent the negative externalities of rapid urbanisation by prioritizing adequate health services and easy access to mental health care services.