But what happens when you are feeling depressed? Or are gripped by a panic attack? Do you even try to get medical attention? No way. Most will suffer the pain of depression silently, but do nothing about it.

What are the reasons that prevent even a literate, well-informed person from doing as simple a task as seeking help for a problem? Says Dr. Hemant Chandorkar, consulting psychiatrist, ``There is a pattern to this. A person will go to his family physician complaining of sleeplessness. After eliminating a physical cause, the doctor will suggest that he see a psychiatrist. At this, the patient will stop seeing the doctor and turn to palmists, astrologers and even buas and babas but steadfastly avoid a psychiatrist. The reason? Seeing a shrink would mean that they are mad.''

A view which Dr. Suparna Telang, a practising psychiatrist, supports. ``Psychiatry has long been thought of something that cannot be used to treat anything else besides madness.''

Dr. Ulhas Luktuke, who has been practising psychiatry for more than 25 years, cites another reason for the psychiatrist phobia. ``People are not trained to recognise the symptoms of a mental ailment. We are trained to recognise fever as a symptom of a physical problem, but a bright student can fail in college and not realise that this is a portent of a mental disease.''

Unfortunately, mental disease is not tangible but the symptoms often manifest themselves in a physical form - through aches and pains that have no diagnostic corroboration. According to a report, more than 27 per cent of complaints seen by the family physician are psychological in nature. Says Telang, ``I know of women who see their gynaecologists for menopausal depression, but refuse psychiatric help.''

It is ironic that people will not hesitate to openly discuss the status of their piles or the tumour in the breast, but will go to unimaginable lengths to conceal an anxiety disorder for the fear of being labelled `mad.' But does a person have to be `mad' to see a psychiatrist? ``No,'' says Luktuke, ``schizophrenia is the only mental disease commonly known as madness. The rest are simply mental health problems.'' Like phobias, anxieties and other neuroses which take its toll on 25 per cent of the population.

Though these do not exactly lead to `madness,' ignoring them can have repercussions. Says Telang, ``For one of my patients, the problem began as a simple travel anxiety. This young man could not travel alone. Soon he stopped going to parties or meeting friends outside his home. He needed the help of his aged parents to drop and pick him up from work. What began as a problem restricted to an individual affected the family and the work.''

The earlier a person seeks help, the better it is. Says Chandorkar, ``Even with schizophrenia, where 25 per cent never get cured, early intervention can be of immense help. A schizophrenic's chances of recovery are better when he is given treatment during the early stages when he is quiet and withdrawn, rather than when he loses touch with reality and wanders on the streets.''

Unfortunately for us, our lifestyles have adapted easily to a hectic pace of life, but have failed to provide the support system needed. When the joint family system was still around, the situation was not so bad. Often, an aunt or a grandparent offered support or counselled a member with psychological problems.