BENGALURU: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) will be undertaking a three-year mental health study in co-ordination with Biocon. The study will be done in the South Zone of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to devise a mental health care model suited to an urban area.
“The district mental health programme is implemented through ASHA workers, Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, district level hospitals among others. However, we find that the mode of service delivery, when it comes to mental health care, may not work in urban areas as people are more likely to seek private hospitals for help. Majority of people do not seek formal care and the current model is a psychiatrist driven model which has its limitations,” said Dr Girish, professor and head, Department of Epidemiology, NIMHANS.
The study aims at informal community care and self-care for first-responder help.
“The number of psychiatrists will not be enough in the coming years to manage demand. Moreover, in urban areas people are more likely to turn to friends, family and coworkers for immediate help rather than call a helpline or seek counselling. Thus, the informal care model needs to be strengthened,” he said.
The study will focus on mild to moderate cases of psychological distress and not the 10-15% who have severe illnesses and are on medication. Talks are on with the state’s Department of Health and Family Welfare as well as BBMP to implement the same. In order to create an alternative and more informal form of mental health care, the study will also involve a priority list for urban individuals to judge how important mental health is to them.
“For instance, a person who has had an heart attack will rush to the hospital immediately but the same person with suicidal thoughts may try to push them away or avoid them instead of seeking professional help. We want to quantify how they prioritise it. We will also conduct sample surveys through focus group discussions to know the level of knowledge and attitude people, that is non-professionals, have when it comes to handling any psychological distress or mental illness another person is going through” he said.