NIMHANS to impart training to ITBP on stress management

The training began after a memorandum of understanding signed between the Union government and NIMHANS in December 2019.
A woman practises yoga at a press meet in NIMHANS on Monday | Pandarinath B
A woman practises yoga at a press meet in NIMHANS on Monday | Pandarinath B

BENGALURU: The Ministry of Home Affairs has collaborated with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) to train Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on stress management.

The training began after a memorandum of understanding signed between the Union government and NIMHANS in December 2019. Around 450 people will be trained as master coaches who will in turn train other personnel. There are about 90,000 personnel in the ITBP.

Assistant Commandant (Bengaluru sector) Ramesh Chandra Sharma who is also trained in the programme, said, “The highest stress personnel face is due to the environmental. They spend days at the 3,600km-long China border at temperatures as low as -40 degree Celsius, bringing down morale. Other stress includes staying away from families for. During operations, we have to stop them from holidays and they can’t meet their families .and this stresses them out. Many end up drinking (excessive) alcohol and some commit suicide. Through this training, we can help them address their stress.”  

So far, 90 master trainers have been trained. The training programme which is set to go on for a year includes yoga, addiction management, suicide prevention, family and work enrichment, self-care and how to deal with environmental factors.

Dr Jayakumar, Faculty, Co-Principal Investigator, NIMHANS, said, “ the training for ITBP started in January. Each batch consists of 30 people and it is a 10-day programme. Once a batch is trained, they go back and train other personnel.”

Liaison officer Gopi said, “There are many who are newly married and they don’t get much time to spend with their spouses. Once they are back to work, they feel low and lose their confidence as well. This is a much-needed course.”NIMHANS had conducted a similar programme for Tamil Nadu police in 2018.

Science Day exhibitions
NIMHANS will hold theme-based exhibitions for two days from February 12. The event, titled NIMHANS Science Day-2020 which will be held at its convention centre, will be open for public and the topics will include development of brain, cognition and sleep, and mental health among others.

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