Barriers to Mental Health Service Access in Higher Education Institutions of Gujarat: A Structured Literature Review

Abstract

Context: Swift socioeconomic transformations, heightened academic rivalry, and evolving social norms have all led to a significant increase in psychological stress among university students in India. Gujarat provides a distinctive backdrop where educational achievement is greatly prioritized, yet formal mental health services have not garnered sufficient focus amid its broad and diverse higher education landscape. Mental health issues among college students have become a major global public health and educational problem.

The goal of this study is to thoroughly examine the obstacles that prevent students from accessing mental health services in Gujarat's higher education institutions, suggest evidence-based interventions (with a particular emphasis on stigma reduction and mental health awareness programming), and place the results in the context of international mental health policy frameworks.

Methods: Andersen's (1995) Behavioural Model of Health Service Utilisation and Rickwood et al.'s (2007) sequential help-seeking paradigm served as theoretical foundations for this descriptive secondary research methodology. 40 sources found through a methodical database search of PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar (2010–2024) were subjected to thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase framework. Publication bias, regional selection bias, time constraints, and measurement variability are among the potential biases present in secondary data that are specifically addressed.

Findings: Four interrelated obstacle types were found: institutional and resource, socio-cultural and academic, awareness and information, and stigma-related. The cumulative effect of these obstacles is reflected in treatment disparities greater than 70% (NMHS, 2016). The most effective evidence-based treatments for the Indian HEI environment are contact-based peer ambassador programs and curriculum-integrated mental health literacy frameworks.

Conclusions: An accountability framework for state-level policy action is created by connecting the findings to the WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030, the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health (Patel et al., 2018), and India's SDG Target 3.4 commitments. To make Gujarat's higher education settings psychologically safe, coordinated action at the institutional, community, digital, and state policy levels is needed.