As a matter of concern, mental health facilities in India are unfortunately inadequate. Furthermore, stigma, ignorance and faulty belief system cause delay and underutilization of treatment available for mental illness. People generally believe that mental illness is caused by evil spirits, witchcraft, black magic and the like. Therefore, most of the persons afflicted by mental ailments seek the help of spiritual healers, magicians, and exorcism rather than going in for psychiatric and authentic medical care. The myths, misconceptions, belief system are related to mental disorders. Stigma and discrimination underdone by the mentally ill and their family members. 150 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were selected from three psychiatric hospitals from an urban area in India. The reasons of delay in getting treatment, stigma, discrimination and attitude towards the mental illness were assessed by using semi-structured questionnaires. Responses were analysed using uni-variate and multivariate techniques. The reasons of delay in getting treatment are found to be correlated significantly with (i) the belief that the mentally ill are possessed by some evil spirits and (ii) The lack of awareness about psychiatric treatment. It was found that ‘general community’ was the most commonly cited source of stigma against mentally ill (cited by 58% respondents), followed by ‘family members’ (cited by 46% of respondents). The most common negative response identified by participants was “lack of acceptance or understanding of mental illness” (52% of respondents), followed by “considering the affected person less than competent” (48% of respondents). The conclusion of the present study is that there is an urgent need to develop strategies for early identification of mental ill health and awareness about its proper treatment. Need of the hour is to create a widespread and efficient network of integrated service of psychiatrists, primary-care doctors (general practitioners), counselors and spiritual healers.