‘Mental health units to come up in 28 districts’

28-Jul-2014

UDUPI : K.A. Ashok Pai, chairman of Karnataka State Mental Health Task Force, said on Saturday that district mental health units will be started in the remaining 28 districts of the State.

Addressing presspersons here, Dr. Pai said that each would be set up at a cost of Rs. 2 crore each and they were expected to be set up by 2016.

These units were currently functioning in 12 districts of the state.

He said that sex education should be made compulsory in high schools and Pre-University colleges and its curriculum had already been designed. Teachers of biology, sociology, psychology, would be trained as special lecturers for teaching sex education.

Dr. Pai said that though exact statistics were not available, independent surveys had indicated that two per cent of the population suffered from psychosis (schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, paranoia, etc) and six per cent from neurosis (anxiety, phobia, hysteria, obsessive compulsive disorder, somatoform disorders).

Four per cent of the population suffered from personality disorders (drug abuse, deviant sexual behaviour, psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies) and two per cent of the population suffered from behaviour disorders secondary to organic brain damage (mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism and multiple disability).

Hence 14 per cent of the population needed mental health services in the country.

Karnataka, with a population of 6 crore, had nearly 75 lakh persons needing routine mental health service.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had identified two important diagnostic criteria among the first ten killer diseases. Universal guidelines for mental health services required the need of one mental health professional for each 1,00,000 population

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/mental-health-units-to-come-up-in-28-districts/article6256114.ece

 

‘Severe shortage of psychiatrists in Karnataka’

15-Jul-2013

GULBARGA : Chairman of the Karnataka State Mental Health Task Force and renowned psychiatrist K. Ashok Pai said that the government should establish de-addiction centres in all divisional headquarters and provide free medicines in all government hospitals for mentally disabled persons.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Dr. Pai said that he would submit a series of recommendations for the welfare and treatment of the mentally disabled to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bangalore on July 19.

Dr Pai said de-addiction centres would first be established in divisional headquarters and later extended to districts in phases.

He said that there was urgent need for increasing number of psychiatrists and psychologists to provide treatment and counselling to patients suffering various mental ailments. At present there are 4,500 psychiatrists and 2,500 psychologists. There is a serious shortage of professionals.

According to a study, at least 14 per cent of the State’s total population is suffering from one or the other mental disorder, while 16 per cent of India’s total population suffers from the same.

The suicide rate, especially in bigger metropolitan cities, is increasing at an alarming rate.

Dr. Pai also highlighted the need to introduce sex education in high school curricula. The teachers should also be provided training to act as counsellors and remove all the misconceptions surrounding sexual activities.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/severe-shortage-of-psychiatrists-in-karnataka/article4916329.ece

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