# The mental hygiene movement: the birth of global mental health in India

## TL;DR

This paper explores the origins of the mental hygiene movement in India and its role in shaping global mental health.

## Contribution

It is the first study to examine the development of mental hygiene in colonial India and its global connections.

## Key findings

- The mental hygiene movement in India was influenced by family, childhood, and nation-state dynamics.
- India's participation in international health movements helped grow psy-disciplines in the region.
- The study highlights India's role in post-WWII World Health Organization research.

## Abstract

Developments such as the opening of the first psychiatric outpatient clinic, the emergence of psychiatric social work, the surge of interest in psychology and psychiatry, and the tightening of notions about sexual hygiene, intersected with the rise of the mental hygiene movement in India from 1930s. There exists little to no discussion on how mental hygiene developed in the colonies. This study is the first to shed light on the lesser-known chapter of psychiatry in India. The dynamics of family, childhood, and nation-state when merged with ideas about racism, caste, and communalism were critical in the making of new nation-states like India. Moreover, the trajectory of India’s participation in international health movements, such as psychoanalysis and mental hygiene, allowed for exchange and participation. India’s participation in the mental hygiene movement allowed the growth of psy-disciplines in innumerable ways. This paper fills in a major lacuna in historical writing by providing an outline of the number of interconnected developments in the colonies, which are often sidelined. The international visibility of India also permitted India to take centre stage in many significant studies that were conducted by the World Health Organization after the Second World War.