KOCHI: Aiming to reduce stigma, promote healing and reflect a more welcoming community approach, the Kerala High Court has suggested renaming the “Mental Health Centres” in Kerala as “Institutes of Behavioural Management”.
During the hearing on issues concerning mental health centres in the state, the amicus curiae informed the court about the name and suggested that the centres be renamed “Institutes of Behavioural Management” or by some other appropriate name.
A division bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Basant Balaji observed, “The ‘Mental Health Centres’, being so called, attract a lot of stigma; and we could see this even when we visited them in the course of the last two weeks or so.”
The court recorded the suggestion of the amicus curiae and observed that “the Bench is of the firm view that the government must look into this issue, particularly when other hospitals are not called Centres of Physical Health; and therefore, one justifiably cannot comprehend why these centres should have the tag of being ‘Mental Health’ centres.”
The court added that since the matter involves a policy decision, it is for the government to take the first step and inform the court. The proposal is aimed at protecting vulnerable patients from stigma and ensuring that the centres are viewed as institutions that promote community welfare and development, rather than being associated with a particular kind of illness, the court observed.