Raipur, Chhattisgarh: R Srinivas Murthy from NIMHANS Bangalore said mental problems affect human development in many ways. Hence it is necessary to recognize mental health as a focus.

He was giving a lecture on the topic of mental health, well-being and human development at the 30th Annual National Conference NCIASP 2023 (National Conference of Indian Association for Social Psychiatry) organized under the joint aegis of the Department of Psychiatry, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College and the Indian Association for Social Psychiatry at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Auditorium of the Medical College. (Auditorium), here.

The entire conference focused on the topic “Public Health Approaches in Mental Health”. Dr. A. Chandrakar, Vice Chancellor of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Health Sciences and AYUSH University and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Dean Dr. Trupti Nagaria inaugurated it.

He said by transforming care centres into mental health centres, by including mental health in all professional training, by promoting self-care for emotional health, especially among ill persons and their caregivers, and by providing education, with the cooperation of development, media and other organizations, better work can be done in the direction of mental health.

Dr. Manoj Kumar Sahu, Head of the Department of Psychiatry in the Medical College and Chairman of the Organizing Committee, said that in view of the current scenario, the conference is aimed at promoting mental health and preventing future mental health problems by referring to social psychology with a scientific approach. And focuses on recovery from mental health problems.

Dr. Surbhi Dubey, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, said that mental health is the responsibility of society, family and individuals. When all classes work together, both mind and body will remain healthy. Diagnosis of any mental illness is possible only with a holistic approach, which along with medicines includes the contribution of society, society's attitude towards mental illness and people's good behavior towards the patient.

During the scientific session Dr. Nitin Gupta delivered a lecture on Psychotherapy in the Indian Scenario: Process of Evaluation and Conduct of Individual Dynamic Psychotherapy. He explained that psychotherapy refers to different types of treatments. With the help of psychotherapy, people suffering from mental health problems like depression, anxiety, fear, substance abuse are helped to overcome their problems.

The three-day conference will conclude on November 26th. Experts from different parts of the country have participated to brainstorm on various aspects of social psychiatry.