First National Conference on Mental Health was organized by Mental Health Foundation, India in collaboration with Department of Psychiatry & National Drug Dependence Center (NDDTC), AIIMS, New Delhi and was sponsored by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. The theme of the conference was “Current Perspectives, Developments and Technological Advancements in the field of Mental Health”
The conference was a one day programme held on the 10th October 2014 on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day and was graced by experts belonging to various domains of the society including health, law, defense, humanities, media, industry as well as eminent personalities from the field of mental health.
Prof. MC Misra, Director, AIIMS; in his inaugural address, highlighted the increasing suicides rates of the country, particularly in the youth, and emphasized need for adequate allocation of resources for mental health alongwith the importance of debunking myths & taboos hindering the promotion of mental health. Prof. SK Khandelwal, Head, Dept. of Psychiatry & Chief, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi informed about the various activities being undertaken as a part of mental health week at AIIMS, NDDTC & Community out-reach centers which include public lectures and exhibitions on Mental Health. Dr. Nand Kumar, Additional Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi and Organizing Chairperson of the conference stressed on the real problem of prevalent stigma towards mental illness, highlighting the imminent need for different stakeholders and experts to form a common platform for the betterment of the mental health services.
The scientific sessions of the conference saw discussions on a myriad of topics, from various august and learned presenters of varied fields. Prof. RK Lenin Singh, Dept. of Psychiatry, RIMS, Manipur, Imphal; an AIIMS alumni and also involved with the project Saksham talked about the soaring burden of mental illness & its implications for the patients, their families & the society at large. Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma, Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore discussed the increasing penetration of technology among the youth and its unhealthy overuse affecting mental health of the users. Dr Sharma also informed the audience about the first technology addiction clininc of India at NIMHANS, Bangalore. Mr. AR Mehta, Science Film Maker & Educationist, shed light on the role and challenges faced by educational Institutions& suggested the need for integration of mental health in curriculum of teachers. Mr. PVK Reddy, Additional Director General, CRPF and Dr. HR Raghavan, DIG (Med), CRPF highlighted the need for promoting mental health among the paramilitary as per the findings of their study “Stress & mental health in CRPF”undertaken by him and showed the tremendous stress faced by them through heartwarming video of the heroic acts of the paramilitary forces.
Providing a very different perspective on mental disorders, Mr. Anil Aggarwal, Former President ASSOCHAM informed the audience about psychosocial aspects contributing to mental illnesses & their devastating economic consequences & proposed multidisciplinary measures for promotion of mental health. Mr. BM Bakshi, Former Additional Director General, Doordarshan and a visiting faculty, Delhi University analysed how media shapes thinking and attitudes of people on various issues. He played a short video clip depicting the various obstacles in delivering psychiatric services and urged mental health professionals to actively bring out the issues and problems faced by them and their patients and to share their success stories with others using social networking platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs apart from conventional media avenues. Dr. Priya Bir, Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology, Delhi University who was invited to enlighten the audience on the present status of child and adolescent mental health in India. Dr. Nand Kumar, Additional Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, AIIMS and Dr Ashok Jaryal, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology highlighted the dire need for technological advancement in this field. He enumerated latest treatment modalities, i.e. repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST), Deep Brain Stimulation, Vagus Nerve Stimulation & Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) which are now being made available at AIIMS.
Prof. Pratap Sharan, Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, AIIMS gave a glimpse of mental health scene globally and enumerated the upcoming strategies being taken up by the governments across the world in improving the condition of patients suffering from various mental illnesses.
The highlight of the days scientific program was a talk by Mr. Aditya Shankar, Advocate, Supreme Court, India. Mr. Gopal Subramanian, Solicitor General, India chaired this talk. Mr. Subramanian critically examined current mental health legislation of India, i.e. MHA 1987 and the condition of patients in mental asylums and prisons. Mr. Shankar spoke at length upon section 309 of IPC and made a strong case for repealing it and thus decriminalizing suicide. Mr. Subramanian further expressed that legislation alone cannot deal with the current suicide rates but needs a concerted effort from a civil society and mental health professionals.
The Scientic Session ended with a panel discussion of eminent psychiatrists on this years’s World Mental Health Day theme “Living with Schizophrenia”. The programme saw participation form greater that 500 DU students, Psychology Phd Scholars and Medical Students.
The conference was a one day programme held on the 10th October 2014 on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day and was graced by experts belonging to various domains of the society including health, law, defense, humanities, media, industry as well as eminent personalities from the field of mental health.
Prof. MC Misra, Director, AIIMS; in his inaugural address, highlighted the increasing suicides rates of the country, particularly in the youth, and emphasized need for adequate allocation of resources for mental health alongwith the importance of debunking myths & taboos hindering the promotion of mental health. Prof. SK Khandelwal, Head, Dept. of Psychiatry & Chief, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi informed about the various activities being undertaken as a part of mental health week at AIIMS, NDDTC & Community out-reach centers which include public lectures and exhibitions on Mental Health. Dr. Nand Kumar, Additional Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi and Organizing Chairperson of the conference stressed on the real problem of prevalent stigma towards mental illness, highlighting the imminent need for different stakeholders and experts to form a common platform for the betterment of the mental health services.
The scientific sessions of the conference saw discussions on a myriad of topics, from various august and learned presenters of varied fields. Prof. RK Lenin Singh, Dept. of Psychiatry, RIMS, Manipur, Imphal; an AIIMS alumni and also involved with the project Saksham talked about the soaring burden of mental illness & its implications for the patients, their families & the society at large. Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma, Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore discussed the increasing penetration of technology among the youth and its unhealthy overuse affecting mental health of the users. Dr Sharma also informed the audience about the first technology addiction clininc of India at NIMHANS, Bangalore. Mr. AR Mehta, Science Film Maker & Educationist, shed light on the role and challenges faced by educational Institutions& suggested the need for integration of mental health in curriculum of teachers. Mr. PVK Reddy, Additional Director General, CRPF and Dr. HR Raghavan, DIG (Med), CRPF highlighted the need for promoting mental health among the paramilitary as per the findings of their study “Stress & mental health in CRPF”undertaken by him and showed the tremendous stress faced by them through heartwarming video of the heroic acts of the paramilitary forces.
Providing a very different perspective on mental disorders, Mr. Anil Aggarwal, Former President ASSOCHAM informed the audience about psychosocial aspects contributing to mental illnesses & their devastating economic consequences & proposed multidisciplinary measures for promotion of mental health. Mr. BM Bakshi, Former Additional Director General, Doordarshan and a visiting faculty, Delhi University analysed how media shapes thinking and attitudes of people on various issues. He played a short video clip depicting the various obstacles in delivering psychiatric services and urged mental health professionals to actively bring out the issues and problems faced by them and their patients and to share their success stories with others using social networking platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs apart from conventional media avenues. Dr. Priya Bir, Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology, Delhi University who was invited to enlighten the audience on the present status of child and adolescent mental health in India. Dr. Nand Kumar, Additional Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, AIIMS and Dr Ashok Jaryal, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology highlighted the dire need for technological advancement in this field. He enumerated latest treatment modalities, i.e. repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST), Deep Brain Stimulation, Vagus Nerve Stimulation & Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) which are now being made available at AIIMS.
Prof. Pratap Sharan, Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, AIIMS gave a glimpse of mental health scene globally and enumerated the upcoming strategies being taken up by the governments across the world in improving the condition of patients suffering from various mental illnesses.
The highlight of the days scientific program was a talk by Mr. Aditya Shankar, Advocate, Supreme Court, India. Mr. Gopal Subramanian, Solicitor General, India chaired this talk. Mr. Subramanian critically examined current mental health legislation of India, i.e. MHA 1987 and the condition of patients in mental asylums and prisons. Mr. Shankar spoke at length upon section 309 of IPC and made a strong case for repealing it and thus decriminalizing suicide. Mr. Subramanian further expressed that legislation alone cannot deal with the current suicide rates but needs a concerted effort from a civil society and mental health professionals.
The Scientic Session ended with a panel discussion of eminent psychiatrists on this years’s World Mental Health Day theme “Living with Schizophrenia”. The programme saw participation form greater that 500 DU students, Psychology Phd Scholars and Medical Students.
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