Editing Social work (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of social work}}
[[File:London-slum-1880s.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Victorian photograph of the exterior of a London slum property|A [[Marylebone]] slum in the 19th century]]
The practice and profession of social work has a relatively modern and scientific origin,<ref name="BoiseStateI">{{cite web|last=Huff|first=Dan|title=From Charity to Reform: Social Work's Formative Years|url=https://www.thegisw.org/1860-1900|access-date=29 July 2020|work=Global Institute of Social Work|publisher=[[Boise State University]]|archive-date=March 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316215250/https://www.thegisw.org/1860-1900|url-status=live}}</ref> and is generally considered to have developed out of three strands. The first was individual casework, a strategy pioneered by the [[Charity Organization Society]] in the mid-19th century, which was founded by [[Helen Bosanquet]] and [[Octavia Hill]] in London, England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.family-action.org.uk/section.aspx?id=1155|title=1800s|work=Family Action: About Us|access-date=November 17, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718211919/http://www.family-action.org.uk/section.aspx?id=1155|archive-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref> Most historians identify COS as the pioneering organization of the [[social theory]] that led to the emergence of social work as a professional occupation.<ref name=" Lymbery" /> COS had its main focus on individual casework. The second was social administration, which included various forms of poverty relief – 'relief of paupers'. Statewide poverty relief could be said to have its roots in the English [[Poor Laws]] of the 17th century but was first systematized through the efforts of the Charity Organization Society. The third consisted of social action – rather than engaging in the resolution of immediate individual requirements, the emphasis was placed on political action working through the community and the group to improve their social conditions and thereby [[poverty reduction|alleviate poverty]]. This approach was developed originally by the [[Settlement movement|Settlement House Movement]].<ref name="Lymbery">{{cite web|url=http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/9812_039472ch02.pdf|author=Lymbery|title=The History and Development of Social Work|access-date=July 8, 2015|archive-date=March 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319070235/http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/9812_039472ch02.pdf}}</ref>

This was accompanied by a less easily defined movement; the development of institutions to deal with the entire range of social problems. All had their most rapid growth during the nineteenth century, and laid the foundation basis for modern social work, both in theory and in practice.<ref name="Popple, Philip R 2011">Popple, Philip R. and Leighninger, Leslie. ''Social Work, Social Welfare, and American Society''. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2011. Print.</ref>

Professional social work originated in [[History of England#Modern England, 18th–19th centuries|19th century England]], and had its roots in the social and economic upheaval wrought by the [[Industrial Revolution]], in particular, the societal struggle to deal with the resultant mass urban-based [[poverty]] and its related problems. Because poverty was the main focus of early social work, it was intricately linked with the idea of [[charity (practice)|charity]] work.<ref name="Popple, Philip R 2011" />

Other important historical figures that shaped the growth of the social work profession are [[Jane Addams]], who founded the [[Hull House]] in Chicago and won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1931; [[Mary Richmond|Mary Ellen Richmond]], who wrote ''Social Diagnosis'', one of the first social workbooks to incorporate law, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, and history; and [[William Beveridge]], who created the social welfare state, framing the debate on social work within the context of social welfare provision.

===United States===
During the 1840s, [[Dorothea Lynde Dix]], a retired Boston teacher who is considered the founder of the Mental Health Movement, began a crusade that would change the way people with mental disorders were viewed and treated. Dix was not a social worker; the profession was not established until after she died in 1887. However, her life and work were embraced by early psychiatric social workers (mental health social worker/clinical social worker), and she is considered one of the pioneers of psychiatric social work along with Elizabeth Horton, who in 1907 was the first social worker to work in a psychiatric setting as an aftercare agent in the New York hospital systems to provide post-discharge supportive services.<ref>Rossi, 1969{{full citation needed|date=November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shapiro |first=Edward R. |date=1994 |title=The Practice of Group Analysis. |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000306519404200330 |journal=Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association |language=en |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=955–959 |doi=10.1177/000306519404200330 |s2cid=145539263 |issn=0003-0651|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The early twentieth century marked a period of progressive change in attitudes towards mental illness. The increased demand for psychiatric services following the First World War led to significant developments.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last1=Southard |first1=Elmer Ernest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQ2hwZQGH80C |title=The Kingdom of Evils: Psychiatric Social Work Presented in One Hundred Case Histories, Together with a Classification of Social Divisions of Evil |last2=Jarrett |first2=Mary Cromwell |date=1922 |publisher=Macmillan |language=en}}</ref> In 1918, [[Smith College School for Social Work]] was established, and under the guidance of [[Mary Cromwell Jarrett|Mary C. Jarrett]] at [[Boston Psychopathic Hospital]], students from Smith College were trained in psychiatric social work. She first gave social workers the "Psychiatric Social Worker" designation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Psychiatric Social Workers and Mental Health |publisher=NASW |year=1960 |editor-last=Woodward |editor-first=Luther E. |location=New York |pages=7 |language=en}}</ref> A book titled "The Kingdom of Evils," released in 1922, authored by a hospital administrator and the head of the social service department at Boston Psychopathic Hospital, described the roles of psychiatric social workers in the hospital. These roles encompassed casework, managerial duties, social research, and public education.<ref name=":3" /> After World War II, a series of mental hygiene clinics were established. The Community Mental Health Centers Act was passed in 1963. This policy encouraged the [[deinstitutionalisation]] of people with mental illness. Later, the mental health consumer movement came by 1980s. A consumer was defined as a person who has received or is currently receiving services for a psychiatric condition. People with mental disorders and their families became advocates for better care. Building public understanding and awareness through consumer advocacy helped bring mental illness and its treatment into mainstream medicine and social services.<ref>{{Cite book |date=2005 |editor-last=Ralph |editor-first=Ruth O. |editor2-last=Corrigan |editor2-first=Patrick W. |title=Recovery in mental illness: Broadening our understanding of wellness. |url=https://doi.org/10.1037/10848-000 |language=en |doi=10.1037/10848-000|isbn=1-59147-163-X |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The 2000s saw the managed care movement, which aimed at a health care delivery system to eliminate unnecessary and inappropriate care to reduce costs, and the recovery movement, which by principle acknowledges that many people with serious mental illness spontaneously recover and others recover and improve with proper treatment.<ref>SAMHSA, 2004{{full citation needed|date=November 2019}}</ref>

During the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)]], social workers worked in [[NATO]] hospitals in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Iraq|Iraqi]] bases. They made visits to provide counseling services at forward operating bases. Twenty-two percent of the clients were diagnosed with [[posttraumatic stress disorder]], 17 percent with depression, and 7 percent with [[alcohol use disorder]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dao |first1=James |title=Vets' Mental Health Diagnoses Rising |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/health/views/17vets.html |work=The New York Times |date=16 July 2009 |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329202725/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/health/views/17vets.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, there was a high level of [[suicide]]s among active-duty soldiers: 160 confirmed or suspected Army suicides. In 2008, the Marine Corps had a record 52 suicides.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zoroya |first1=Gregg |title=Abuse of pain pills by troops concerns Pentagon |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-03-16-military-drugs_N.htm |work=USA Today |date=16 March 2010 |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017153058/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-03-16-military-drugs_N.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The stress of long and repeated deployments to war zones, the dangerous and confusing nature of both wars, wavering public support for the wars, and reduced troop morale all contributed to escalating mental health issues.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Knickerbocker |first1=Brad |title=Soldiers' wives: Fighting mental, emotional battles of their own |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0123/Soldiers-wives-Fighting-mental-emotional-battles-of-their-own |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=23 January 2010 |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329202728/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0123/Soldiers-wives-Fighting-mental-emotional-battles-of-their-own |url-status=live }}</ref> Military and civilian social workers served a critical role in the veterans' health care system.

Mental health services is a loose network of services ranging from highly structured [[Inpatient care|inpatient]] psychiatric units to informal support groups, where psychiatric social workers indulges in the diverse approaches in multiple settings along with other [[paraprofessional]] workers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-09 |title=Role of Social Workers in Mental Health |url=https://onlinedegrees.unr.edu/blog/role-of-social-workers-in-mental-health/ |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=University of Nevada, Reno |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Canada===
A role for psychiatric social workers was established early in Canada's history of service delivery in the field of population health. Native North Americans understood mental trouble as an indication of an individual who had lost their equilibrium with the sense of place and belonging in general, and with the rest of the group in particular. In native healing beliefs, health and mental health were inseparable, so similar combinations of natural and spiritual remedies were often employed to relieve both mental and physical illness. These communities and families greatly valued holistic approaches for preventive health care. Indigenous peoples in Canada have faced cultural oppression and social marginalization through the actions of European colonizers and their institutions since the earliest periods of contact. Culture contact brought with it many forms of depredation. Economic, political, and religious institutions of the European settlers all contributed to the displacement and [[oppression]] of [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] people.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Kirmayer |editor1-first=Laurence J. |editor2-last=Valaskakis |editor2-first=Gail Guthrie |date=2009 |title=Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-0-7748-1523-9 |url=http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/2008/HealingTraditions.pdf |access-date=2016-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406112447/http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/2008/HealingTraditions.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-06 |url-status=dead }}{{page needed|date=September 2016}}</ref>

The first officially recorded treatment practices were in 1714, when [[Quebec]] opened wards for the mentally ill. In the 1830s social services were active through charity organizations and church parishes ([[Social Gospel]] Movement). Asylums for the insane were opened in 1835 in Saint John and New Brunswick. In 1841 in [[Toronto]] care for the mentally ill became institutionally based. Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867, retaining its ties to the British crown. During this period, age of [[Capitalism#Industrial Revolution|industrial capitalism]] began and it led to social and economic dislocation in many forms. By 1887 asylums were converted to hospitals, and nurses and attendants were employed for the care of the mentally ill. Social work training began at the University of Toronto in 1914. Before that, social workers acquired their training through trial and error methods on the job and by participating in apprenticeship plans offered by charity organization societies. These plans included related study, practical experience, and supervision.<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=D. |title=The History of Professional Education for Social Work in Canada. |year=1943 |pages=16–17 |language=en |department=New York University}}</ref> In 1918 Dr. Clarence Hincks and [[Clifford Whittingham Beers|Clifford Beers]] founded the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, which later became the [[Canadian Mental Health Association]]. In the 1930s Hincks promoted prevention and of treating sufferers of mental illness before they were incapacitated (early intervention).{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

[[World War II]] profoundly affected attitudes towards mental health. The medical examinations of recruits revealed that thousands of apparently healthy adults suffered mental difficulties. This knowledge changed public attitudes towards mental health, and stimulated research into preventive measures and methods of treatment.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of CMHA |website=Canadian Mental Health Association: Ontario |url=https://ontario.cmha.ca/about-us/history-of-cmha |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324055259/http://ontario.cmha.ca/about-us/history-of-cmha/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1951 Mental Health Week was introduced across Canada. For the first half of the twentieth century, with a period of [[deinstitutionalisation]] beginning in the late 1960s psychiatric social work succeeded to the current emphasis on community-based care, psychiatric social work focused beyond the medical model's aspects on individual diagnosis to identify and address social inequities and structural issues. In the 1980s Mental Health Act was amended to give consumers the right to choose treatment alternatives. Later the focus shifted to workforce mental health issues and environmental root causes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Regehr |first1=Cheryl |last2=Glancy |first2=Graham |title=Mental Health Social Work Practice in Canada |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-900119-4 }}{{page needed|date=November 2019}}</ref>

In Ontario, the regulator, the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW) regulates two professions: registered social workers (RSW) and registered social service workers (RSSW). Each province has similar regulatory bodies, and their leanings and interpretations are influenced by the Canadian Council of Social Work Regulators (CCSWR). The [[Canadian Association of Social Workers]] (CASW) is the national professional body for social workers. Prior to the provincial-level politicization that began in the early 2000s and lasted until the mid-2010s, registrants of this professional body were able to engage in interprovincial practice as registered social workers.

===India===
The earliest citing of mental disorders in [[India]] are from Vedic Era (2000 BC – AD 600).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gautam |first1=Shiv |title=Mental health in ancient India & its relevance to modern psychiatry |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=January 1999 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=5–18 |pmid=21455347 |pmc=2962283 }}</ref> Charaka Samhita, an ayurvedic textbook believed to be from 400 to 200 BC describes various factors of mental stability. It also has instructions regarding how to set up a care delivery system.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=Albert S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0eo4AQAAIAAJ |title=Medicine: An Illustrated History |last2=Petrucelli |first2=R. Joseph |date=1987 |publisher=Abradale Press/Abrams |isbn=978-0-8109-8080-8 |language=en}}</ref> In the same era, Siddha was a medical system in south India. The great sage [[Agastya]] was one of the 18 siddhas contributing to a system of medicine. This system has included the Agastiyar Kirigai Nool, a compendium of psychiatric disorders and their recommended treatments.<ref>McGilvray, D. B. (1998). Symbolic Heat: Gender, Health and Worship among the Tamils of South India and Sri Lanka. Ahmedabad: Mapin</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nichter |first=Mark |date=1987 |title=Cultural dimensions of hot, cold and sema in Sinhalese health culture |url=https://www.academia.edu/23593672 |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=377–387 |doi=10.1016/0277-9536(87)90276-0 |pmid=3686087 |issn=0277-9536}}</ref> In Atharva Veda too there are descriptions and resolutions about mental health afflictions. In the Mughal period Unani system of medicine was introduced by an Indian physician Unhammad in 1222.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parkar |first1=SR |last2=Dawani |first2=VS |last3=Apte |first3=JS |title=History of psychiatry in India |journal=Journal of Postgraduate Medicine |date=2001 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=73–6 |pmid=11590303}}</ref> The existing form of psychotherapy was known then as ilaj-i-nafsani in [[Unani medicine]].

The 18th century was a very unstable period in Indian history, which contributed to psychological and social chaos in the Indian subcontinent. In 1745, lunatic asylums were developed in Bombay (Mumbai) followed by Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1784, and Madras (Chennai) in 1794. The need to establish hospitals became more acute, first to treat and manage Englishmen and Indian 'sepoys' (military men) employed by the British East India Company.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sharma |first1=Kalpana |date=6 August 2004 |title=Censor Board Bans 'Final Solution' |work=The Hindu }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thara |first1=R. |last2=Padmavati |first2=R. |last3=Srinivasan |first3=T. N. |title=Focus on psychiatry in India |journal=British Journal of Psychiatry |date=April 2004 |volume=184 |issue=4 |pages=366–373 |doi=10.1192/bjp.184.4.366 |pmid=15104094 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The First Lunacy Act (also called Act No. 36) that came into effect in 1858 was later modified by a committee appointed in Bengal in 1888. Later, the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912 was brought under this legislation. A rehabilitation programme was initiated between 1870s and 1890s for persons with mental illness at the Mysore Lunatic Asylum, and then an occupational therapy department was established during this period in almost each of the lunatic asylums. The programme in the asylum was called 'work therapy'. In this programme, persons with mental illness were involved in the field of agriculture for all activities. This programme is considered as the seed of origin of psychosocial rehabilitation in India.

Berkeley-Hill, superintendent of the European Hospital (now known as the [[Central Institute of Psychiatry]] (CIP), established in 1918), was deeply concerned about the improvement of mental hospitals in those days. The sustained efforts of Berkeley-Hill helped to raise the standard of treatment and care and he also persuaded the government to change the term 'asylum' to 'hospital' in 1920.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nizamie |first1=S. Haque |last2=Goyal |first2=Nishant |last3=Haq |first3=Mohammad Ziaul |last4=Akhtar |first4=Sayeed |title=Central Institute of Psychiatry: A tradition in excellence |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=2008 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=144–148 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.42405 |pmid=19742219 |pmc=2738340 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Techniques similar to the current token-economy were first started in 1920 and called by the name 'habit formation chart' at the CIP, Ranchi. In 1937, the first post of psychiatric social worker was created in the child guidance clinic run by the Dhorabji Tata School of Social Work (established in 1936). It is considered as the first documented evidence of social work practice in Indian mental health field.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

After Independence in 1947, general hospital psychiatry units (GHPUs) were established to improve conditions in existing hospitals, while at the same time encouraging outpatient care through these units. In Amritsar Dr. Vidyasagar instituted active involvement of families in the care of persons with mental illness. This was advanced practice ahead of its times regarding treatment and care. This methodology had a greater impact on social work practice in the mental health field especially in reducing the stigmatisation. In 1948 Gauri Rani Banerjee, trained in the United States, started a master's course in medical and psychiatric social work at the Dhorabji Tata School of Social Work (now TISS). Later the first trained psychiatric social worker was appointed in 1949 at the adult psychiatry unit of [[Yerwada Mental Hospital]], Pune.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

In various parts of the country, in mental health service settings, social workers were employed—in 1956 at a mental hospital in Amritsar, in 1958 at a child guidance clinic of the college of nursing, and in Delhi in 1960 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and in 1962 at the [[Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital]]. In 1960, the Madras Mental Hospital (now [[Institute of Mental Health (Chennai)|Institute of Mental Health]]) employed social workers to bridge the gap between doctors and patients. In 1961 the social work post was created at the NIMHANS. In these settings they took care of the psychosocial aspect of treatment. This system enabled social service practices to have a stronger long-term impact on mental health care.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Verma |first=Ratna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50RtPgAACAAJ |title=Psychiatric Social Work in India |date=1991 |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-0-8039-9727-1 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1966 by the recommendation Mental Health Advisory Committee, Ministry of Health, Government of India, NIMHANS commenced Department of Psychiatric Social Work started and a two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Psychiatric Social Work was introduced in 1968. In 1978, the nomenclature of the course was changed to MPhil in Psychiatric Social Work. Subsequently, a PhD Programme was introduced. By the recommendations Mudaliar committee in 1962, Diploma in Psychiatric Social Work was started in 1970 at the European Mental Hospital at Ranchi (now CIP). The program was upgraded and other higher training courses were added subsequently.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

A new initiative to integrate mental health with general health services started in 1975 in India. The Ministry of Health, [[Government of India]] formulated the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) and launched it in 1982. The same was reviewed in 1995 and based on that, the District Mental Health Program (DMHP) was launched in 1996 which sought to integrate mental health care with public health care.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khandelwal |first1=Sudhir K. |last2=Jhingan |first2=Harsh P. |last3=Ramesh |first3=S. |last4=Gupta |first4=Rajesh K. |last5=Srivastava |first5=Vinay K. |title=India mental health country profile |journal=International Review of Psychiatry |date=11 July 2009 |volume=16 |issue=1–2 |pages=126–141 |doi=10.1080/09540260310001635177 |pmid=15276945 |s2cid=8418709 }}</ref> This model has been implemented in all the states and currently there are 125 DMHP sites in India.

[[National Human Rights Commission]] (NHRC) in 1998 and 2008 carried out systematic, intensive and critical examinations of mental hospitals in India. This resulted in recognition of the human rights of the persons with mental illness by the NHRC. From the NHRC's report as part of the NMHP, funds were provided for upgrading the facilities of mental hospitals. As a result of the study, it was revealed that there were more positive changes in the decade until the joint report of [[National Human Rights Commission of India|NHRC]] and [[National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences|NIMHANS]] in 2008 compared to the last 50 years until 1998.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nagaraja |first1=D. |url=http://www.antoniocasella.eu/archipsy/nagaraja_2008.pdf |title=Mental Health Care and Human Rights |last2=Murthy |first2=Pratima |date=2008 |publisher=National Human Rights Commission |isbn=}}</ref> In 2016 Mental Health Care Bill was passed which ensures and legally [[Entitlement (fair division)|entitles]] access to treatments with coverage from insurance, safeguarding dignity of the afflicted person, improving legal and healthcare access and allows for free medications.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 August 2016 |title=Mental Health Care Bill Gets Clearance From Rajya Sabha |newspaper=The Huffington Post India |publisher=Times Internet Limited |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/08/09/mental-health-care-bill-gets-clearance-from-rajya-sabha/ |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317085943/http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/08/09/mental-health-care-bill-gets-clearance-from-rajya-sabha/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=9 August 2016 |title=Rajya Sabha passes 'patient-centric' Mental Health Care Bill 2013 |newspaper=Hindustan Times |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rajya-sabha-passes-patient-centric-mental-health-care-bill-2013/story-p2ul6lWwLuX1wCvlCD5i3H.html |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311142525/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rajya-sabha-passes-patient-centric-mental-health-care-bill-2013/story-p2ul6lWwLuX1wCvlCD5i3H.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://indianexpress.com/article/what-is/mental-healthcare-bill-passed-parliament-lok-sabha-4588288/| title=What is Mental Healthcare Bill? |work=Indian Express| date=2017-03-28| access-date=June 22, 2023| archive-date=March 26, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326061949/https://indianexpress.com/article/what-is/mental-healthcare-bill-passed-parliament-lok-sabha-4588288/| url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2016, [[Disabilities Act]] 1995 was repealed with [[Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016|Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act]] (RPWD), 2016 from the 2014 Bill which ensures benefits for a wider population with disabilities. The Bill before becoming an Act was pushed for amendments by stakeholders mainly against alarming clauses in the "Equality and Non discrimination" section that diminishes the power of the act and allows establishments to overlook or discriminate against persons with disabilities and against the general lack of directives that requires to ensure the proper implementation of the Act.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 |url=http://www.disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/RPWD%20ACT%202016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024214322/http://disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/RPWD%20ACT%202016.pdf |archive-date=October 24, 2018 |access-date=June 22, 2023 |website=disabilityaffairs.gov.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.livelaw.in/salient-features-rights-persons-disabilities-rpwd-bill/| title=Salient Features of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Bill| website=livelaw.in| date=2016-12-03| access-date=June 22, 2023| archive-date=November 16, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116095539/https://www.livelaw.in/salient-features-rights-persons-disabilities-rpwd-bill/| url-status=live}}</ref>

Mental health in India is in its developing stages. There are not enough professionals to support the demand. According to the [[Indian Psychiatric Society]], there are around 9000 psychiatrists only in the country as of January 2019. Going by this figure, India has 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 population, while the desirable number is at least 3 psychiatrists per 100,000. While the number of psychiatrists has increased since 2010, it is still far from a healthy ratio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aurumwellness.in/blog/mentalhealthpicture.html|title=Mental Health In Numbers|website=Aurum Wellness|access-date=13 March 2020|archive-date=June 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602155247/https://www.aurumwellness.in/blog/mentalhealthpicture.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lack of any universally accepted single licensing authority compared to foreign countries puts social workers at general in risk. But general bodies/councils accepts automatically a university-qualified social worker as a professional licensed to practice or as a qualified clinician. Lack of a centralized council in tie-up with Schools of Social Work also makes a decline in promotion for the scope of social workers as mental health professionals. Though in this midst the service of social workers has given a facelift to the mental health sector in the country with other allied professionals.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

=== Iran ===
{{Main|State Welfare Organization of Iran}}
State welfare organization was previously part of health and social security ministry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=انتقال کلیه بیمارستانهای سازمان خیریه کمک به وزارت بهداری و بهزیستی |url=https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/104586 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>