RIHFW Kashmir
Orientation Training on Mental Health
Mental disorder is a very common cause of disability, with major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and drug addiction, forming 5 out the 10 leading causes of disability all over the world. By 2020, depression is feared to become the 2nd most disabling disease after heart ailment, and in some countries may even surpass it. A whopping 1 crore and 10 lakh people need psychiatric care in India when there is severe dearth of qualified psychiatrists and psychologists. It has been found that 60 - 90% of people with a mental disorder turn to primary care facilities first. Even in the developed countries like USA it has been felt that primary care physicians should be fully involved in the care of mentally ill. The problem, however, is that while the primary care physician is empowered to tackle most physical ailments he finds himself ill-equipped to deal with the mental disorder.
Against this background, a one-day orientation training was organized by the Institute on April 7, 2001 to orient the medical officers of CHC's and PHC's in the epidemiology, clinical spectrum and management of mental disorder in a peripheral setting. In addition to the in-house faculty, psychiatrists, sociologists, and psychologists participated in the interaction. This was the first such orientation programme held in the State for medical officers, who found the participatory interaction extremely useful. The orientation was held on the World Health Day specially dedicated to community mental health.
Table X: Orientation on Community Mental Health Programme:
(Training curriculum and topic coverage)
- Mental Disorder: Epidemiological perspectives. Indian scenario; Prevalence and distribution of mental disorders in Kashmir and current status of mental health care services
- Modern day stresses and their relation with mental disorder: Stresses, adaptation; failure of adaption and mental disorders.
- Turmoil and its relation with recent surge in mental disorders; Trauma and Post-traumatic stress disorders
- Community mental health programme: Community-based management of mental disorder.