A Chennai-centred view of access, affordability, and time

Mental health care across the world suffers from a strange paradox. Countries with advanced economies, sophisticated hospitals, and high mental-health awareness often make psychiatric care the hardest to access. Meanwhile, in cities like Chennai, a person can meet a qualified psychiatrist within days—sometimes the same week—for ₹1,500.

This difference is not marginal. It is structural. And it explains why a growing number of Indians living abroad quietly choose India for their mental health care.

The Global Reality: Cost Is Only Part of the Problem

In many developed countries, the biggest obstacle to psychiatric care is not willingness—it is time.

Australia
Despite a well-intentioned public system, wait times for a psychiatrist commonly range from 6 to 12 weeks, and in some regions even longer. Private consultations can cost the equivalent of ₹15,000–₹30,000 per session, with limited session durations and heavy reliance on brief medication reviews.

Germany & France
Publicly funded mental health care exists, but access is bottlenecked. Wait times of 2–6 months for a psychiatrist are not unusual. English-speaking psychiatrists are limited in number, and psychotherapy access is even more delayed. Many expatriates end up cycling through primary care doctors while waiting.

Singapore
High clinical standards, but high costs. A private psychiatric consultation often costs ₹20,000–₹40,000, with follow-ups adding up quickly. Public sector services involve long queues unless the condition is acutely severe.

United Kingdom
NHS mental health services are stretched thin. Non-urgent psychiatric referrals can take months, sometimes over a year. Private care is faster but expensive, and continuity of care is often fragmented.

In all these systems, patients are not denied care outright—but they are delayed, filtered, and constrained.

Why Indians Abroad Turn Back to India

For many Indians living overseas, mental health struggles don’t fit neatly into appointment slots or referral pathways. Emotional distress escalates while the system moves slowly.

India—and Chennai in particular—offers something rare:

• Immediate access

• Affordable consultations

• Longer, conversation-based assessments

• Cultural understanding

• Family-inclusive care

It is common for patients to plan a short visit to India and complete:

• a full diagnostic reassessment,

• medication rationalisation,

• psychoeducation,

• and a structured follow-up plan
  within a few weeks—something that may take years elsewhere.

Telepsychiatry has amplified this effect. Many overseas patients now continue follow-ups online after an initial in-person consultation in India.

Chennai’s Quiet Advantage

Chennai is not an exception by accident. It is the result of several converging factors:

• A high density of psychiatrists trained in reputed Indian and international institutions

• A strong culture of clinical medicine rather than checklist-driven care

• Competition that keeps costs realistic

• Comfort with complex, mixed presentations—depression with anxiety, personality factors, somatic symptoms, family stressors

In practical terms, this means a patient can sit with a psychiatrist, speak freely, ask questions, and receive explanations—without the clock feeling hostile.

At ₹1,500 per consultation, mental health care becomes approachable. Follow-ups become realistic. Treatment adjustments happen sooner. Drop-out rates fall.

Access Changes Outcomes

Early access matters more than advanced infrastructure.
A delayed diagnosis costs more than an imperfect one corrected early.
A reachable psychiatrist prevents crises better than the most sophisticated emergency ward.

This is why affordability and access are not “secondary” issues in mental health—they are clinical variables.

Chennai demonstrates that when care is accessible:

• patients seek help earlier,

• polypharmacy reduces,

• unnecessary investigations drop,

• and trust improves.

A System Worth Valuing—and Protecting

India’s mental health ecosystem still has gaps, especially outside urban centres. But cities like Chennai show what is possible when clinical expertise is not locked behind time or money.

For many Indians abroad, returning to India for mental health care is not nostalgia.
It is pragmatism.

They are not chasing cheaper care.
They are choosing available care.

About the Author

Dr. Srinivas Rajkumar T, MD (AIIMS), DNB, MBA (BITS Pilani)
Consultant Psychiatrist & Neurofeedback Specialist
Mind & Memory Clinic, Apollo Clinic Velachery (Opp. Phoenix Mall), Chennai

Dr. Srinivas Rajkumar T is a senior consultant psychiatrist trained at AIIMS, New Delhi, with clinical expertise spanning adult psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, addiction medicine, and technology-assisted mental health care. His practice emphasises accurate diagnosis, ethical and judicious use of medication, deprescribing where appropriate, and long-term functional recovery.

He regularly consults patients from India and abroad, combining in-person and online care to ensure continuity without compromise.

✉ srinivasaiims@gmail.com
📞 +91-8595155808