Page 235 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

of green space, and lack of social safety. As it has been demonstrated that not

only physical and social settings have a substantial influence, the
environmental factors may affect mental health and well-being (Qiu et al.,

2019). According to studies on rapid urbanisation, Kathmandu is facing many

environmental problems, such as air and noise pollution and less urban green
space (Haack, 2009). In addition, most of the immigrant population lives in

slums near Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers. The living conditions of slum
dwellers are poor, and do not have adequate services and facilities and mainly

suffer from poor mental health (Nielsen & Khanal, 2021).

Several studies show limited accessibility, availability, and affordability of

mental health services in urban areas. For example, a study by Karim et al.
(2004) highlighted that the number of trained mental health professionals is

deficient compared to the population size. Also, it was reported that mental
health specialist services are almost nonexistent in Pakistan. Consequently,

rapid urbanisation causes many challenges when providing sufficient mental

health services to the urban population in the SAARC countries.

Consideration of how cultural factors could be associated with mental

disorders with the rapid urbanisation process in the SAARC countries is vital.
Cultural factors such as beliefs, norms, values, perceptions, expressions, and

other behaviours are related to mental disorders. People showing variations in
sexual orientations, religions, races, beliefs, etc., face discrimination and

social marginalization through immigration (Ventriglio & Bhugra, 2015). A
quantitative study by Williams et al. (2018) in Bangladesh demonstrated that
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