Psychiatry and Society

World Mental Health Day World Mental Health Day is observed every year on the 10th of October to take awareness of mental health issues into the community. The theme for 2018 was  Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World [1] . Pathfinder Clinic WMHD2018 Event On World Mental Health Day 2018 Pathfinder Clinic psychologists manned a desk for the day in the atrium at Magarpatta City, Pune. They used a short mental health quiz to pique the interest of anyone entering the shopping complex and rewarded all participants with an origami patronus! They were also administered a test of their current resilience. Our psychologists engaged in over-the-counter discussions on what constituted mental health issues. People brought out their own family and interpersonal problems, and to many it was an eye-opener that mental health issues could be contributory. Why focus on young people? Young people don't vote. They often don't have a voice and depend upon others to champ...

10yr window to treat mental health problems affecting academic performance Mental health & academic performance Mental health has a direct impact on academic performance in children. Neglected childhood psychiatric disorders like ADHD and Learning Disorders adversely affect the child’s academic performance and educational attainment. Poor educational outcomes affect the child’s health, employment, and status as an adult. This is especially so for psychiatric conditions that are seen at 7 years and persist beyond 16 years of age. Mental health disorders in children have a greater impact on academic performance than chronic physical illness. The presence of a single mental condition results in morel board exams failures and backlogs. This association is more than for chronic illnesses of the neurological, lung, heart, or digestive systems. Physical impairments are not associated with exam failures. More than half the teenagers who fail to complete their secondary edu...

What is normal? A 22-year-old man jumped into the tiger's enclosure at the local zoo on Saturday and was mauled on his back, stomach and thighs. The previous night he had dreamt that he was to free the big cat and that it wouldn't kill him. "See, it didn't kill me," he said. Doctors treating him said, "he has received injuries but he would be well soon ... he was not suicidal." What is normal? The concept of normality is at the core of mental health. Without a concept of what is normal one cannot identify the abnormal. In this post we explore the concept of normality from a mental health point of view. Normality as Health The WHO has defined health as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Later they added spiritual well-being to the definition. So health is a positive state, not just the absence of disease. This concept looks at normality from a biological or medical...

Checklists and psychological screening questionnaires for mental illness are effective, easy to use and widely available. Pune was shocked into considering the need for mental health screening of its bus drivers after one of them wilfully killed eight people and injured 32 others. He hijacked a bus at the depot and mowed down victims in broad daylight. Amidst the protests, and outrage the Pune administration has decided that all its bus driver undergo psychological testing. We have already looked at screening of police personnel for mental health problems , and also screening of teenagers for alcohol and drug abuse . Here we specifically examine the feasibility of regularly screening the 8600 PMPL staff and Pune bus drivers for mental health problems. Mental illness in bus drivers Mental health problems are higher for bus drivers who suffer from back pain, are dissatisfied with their jobs or undertake long-distance driving. This is more so for employees who have worked fo...

Recovery to meaningful functioning after even severe mental illness is the present standard of care in mental health treatment. Recovery is made possible by medications that are now widely available at a reasonable cost. Planning and persistence with treatment need to be ensured to achieve a quality recovery. Recovery from mental disorders is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness live a self-directed life strive to reach their full potential The road to recovery from mental illness has four components that together give meaning to life. 1. Health Overcoming or managing the disease and living in a physically and emotionally healthy way. Start with the basics - medication, meals, sleep and exercise . Establishing routines for these basic health tasks are essential for recovery of function. Medication is the corner stone on which recovery is nurtured. In the absence of medication frequent relapses and recurrences disrupt basic f...

Mental health and diet quality are closely linked . The food choices you made as a teenager affect the development of conduct and emotional problems that continue into adulthood. Lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity are attributed to changes in diet and exercise habits. Recently there is increasing evidence that diet and exercise also have a major influence on mental health. Dieting peaks after the festival season. This post will help you avoid the 'isms' and fads and point you in the direction indicated by current research. A good quality diet predicts better mental health Evaluating the quality of the complete diet provides a better and more consistent picture of nutrition status than focusing on individual nutrients like magnesium or food groups like various fatty acids (omega, polyunsaturated). A traditional diet of vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, and whole grains is associated with lower risk for depression and for anxiety disorders as compared...

Festivals as a source of stress? Festivals are meant to be a time of happiness, enjoyment and family togetherness. However for some it can be time of great stress   and can adversely affect mental health. The extended festival season starts around Independence Day (15th Aug) and extends right up to New Year including Ganesh Chathurti, Dusshera, and Diwali. Vacations have a positive effect on well-being. However, these effects fade soon after resumption of work (de Bloom 2009). These four months of celebration are associated with psychological distress and mental health problems for many individuals and their families. Festival distress (Harion 2009) Expectations take their toll on the family . Festivals are a prime time for couples to come in for counselling with relationship problems, problems with in-laws, siblings and their children. 'Don't we get to celebrate at least once in our own home?". They end up celebrating each in their own parental homes at Pune a...