Link to article on Groundviews website: Tackling Sri Lanka’s Mental Health Crisis – Groundviews
An article was published by Groundviews on January 30th, 2026, which discussed the current mental health crisis in Sri Lanka, and what can be done to improve it.
Groundviews conducted an interview with Dr Shamil Wanigaratne, Chair of the UK-Sri Lanka Trauma Group (UK-SLTG), Director of Samutthāna and Visiting Associate at King’s College London, and Dr Isuri Roche Dharmaratne, CEO of Samutthāna.
The interview highlighted the following:
- Introduction to Samutthāna, and the services offered since the inception of the organisation in 2006.
- The main causes of trauma
- The current state of acceptance of mental illness in Sri Lanka
- How people can get treatment given the current shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists in Sri Lanka
- War trauma and its impacts on people affected
- Concerns about dispensing of medication and its impact on drug addiction
