A few days ago, a 46-year-old man from Kathmandu was brought to a private clinic for psychiatric treatment for alcohol addiction. The patient told the doctor that he had invested everything in the real estate business, even mortgaging his house, but the sector has been in a prolonged slump.

When the man could not sell the properties he had invested in, he started borrowing from relatives. When he could not continue the bank’s equated monthly instalments (EMIs), he started consuming alcohol excessively, according to the doctor who attended to the patient.

“The patient was brought to the hospital as a last resort to treat his alcohol addiction,” said Dr Basudev Karki, a consultant psychiatrist. “Such cases of alcohol and substance abuse have risen significantly in recent months.”

Mental health experts say that very few people seek treatment for alcohol and substance abuse at hospitals, and a rise in the number in hospitals means the problem might have become alarmingly widespread in communities. The real estate business, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, has not yet recovered, and many people who invested in this sector have been severely affected.

According to Karki, a vast number of people might be suffering from financial troubles due to the slump in the real estate business and other reasons, which have forced them to turn to alcohol and other substances—marijuana and other drugs—to relieve stress.

A 64-year-old man who used to consume alcohol occasionally became a binge drinker when he lost everything in the real estate business. The bank auctioned all his properties, including plots of land and houses, due to his failure to pay monthly loan instalments.

“The man had not informed his family about his business troubles, and only found out after they became homeless,” said Karki. “Alcohol may give relief for some time, but it is not a solution to these problems.”

Another youth, who returned from Australia due to issues with substance (marijuana) abuse, was also taken to the Nepal Mental Hospital recently for treatment. Doctors attending to the patient said his family had sent him to Australia, hoping he would earn enough to pay off a bank loan his father had taken for investment in the real estate.

But due to easy access to marijuana in Australia, the young man began using it excessively, which forced him to return to Nepal and seek treatment.

“We have not studied whether the slump in real estate is the main reason for the rise in mental health problems, but the fact is that mental health problems have risen significantly in recent years,” said Dr Ananta Adhikari, director at the Nepal Mental Hospital.

“Biological, financial, and social factors, among others, are some of the main contributors to the rise in mental health problems, and it is possible that the slump in the real estate business has exacerbated the mental health problems of vulnerable people.”

Officials at the hospital said around 200 mental health patients seek treatment at the outpatient department of the hospital every day. As mental health service has been decentralised to provincial and some district hospitals, many mental health patients also seek care there.

The Nepal Demographic and Health Survey-2022 shows that the number of people consuming alcohol is far higher than those using tobacco in Nepal.

According to the report of the nationwide study, 42 percent of Nepali men between 15 and 49 years consume alcohol, while 11 percent of women in the same age group said they had taken alcoholic drinks in the month preceding the survey.

The report shows that 28 percent of men smoke tobacco compared to 5 percent of women.

Among women who consumed alcohol, those in the mountainous region were more likely to drink it every day or almost every day. As much as 26 percent of women who drink alcohol in the mountain region are likely to have it every day, 17 percent in the hill and seven percent in the Tarai.

According to the report, among both women and men who smoke, cigarettes are the most common (4 percent and 27 percent, respectively).