India, Sept. 10 -- The battle against the Coronavirus, fought with social distancing and enforced isolation, is taking a psychological toll on many of us. India, like the rest of the world, is now confronted with another brewing pandemic of mental sickness. But we need to be aware that we are almost as ill-equipped to handle this crisis as we have proved to be in the handling of the outbreak. As the world commemorates the World Suicide Prevention Day today, it is imperative to understand mental health issues and their impact. Anne Harrington, the pre-eminent historian of neuroscience, says that the medicine and science related to the mind and brain have not come as far as we all would like to imagine or wish.

The death of ambitious actor...