World Mental Health Day
In TN, 612 staying more than yr at mental health institutes
State Has 3rd Highest Long Stay People
Aditi.R@timesgroup.com
Chennai:10.10.2019
More than 600 people have been living for more than a year in mental health institutions in Tamil Nadu, according to a study by The Hans Foundation. Only Maharashtra (1,358) and West Bengal (971) had more long stay people than Tamil Nadu (612).
Lt Gen S M Mehta, (retd), chief executive officer of The Hans Foundation, said that the aim of the report was to enable exit pathways and reintegrate such people into community living options. “These people do not deserve to be where they are.”
The study, conducted by a taskforce comprising members from the ministry of health and family welfare, ministry of social justice and empowerment, NIMHANS, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and other civil society organisations, found nearly 5,000 people, more than half of them women, living in 43 mental health institutions for over a year. “Majority only had mild to moderate disability,” said professor Parasuraman, former director, TISS and chairman of the task force.
“They can all be discharged immediately, but where will they go? Nobody wants them,” said Dr B N Gangadhar, director of the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). He said institutions kept them on humanitarian grounds to prevent them from becoming homeless. “To change this, we will have to first make the society more benevolent,” he said.
Dr Nimesh Desai, director of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi, said institutions should not admit patient unless it was absolutely necessary. He said reintegration with family has higher success and those who don’t have any can be placed in longstay or halfway homes. “Nobody should be hospitalised.”
“In most cases, delay in treatment makes people’s illness severe, they require high support and end up staying for longer durations. We need more awareness,” said Dr. P. Poorna Chandrika , director, Institute of Mental Health.
The study found that 33.1% long stay users were brought by families and 55.4% were referred by the police or magistrates, indicating homelessness. It was also found that 77.1% of these people lived in closed wards and 1% in solitary confinement. A young woman in her late 20s was found to be living in solitary confinement for seven years, to stop her from consuming wastewater from an adjoining pathway.
In TN, 612 staying more than yr at mental health institutes
State Has 3rd Highest Long Stay People
Aditi.R@timesgroup.com
Chennai:10.10.2019
More than 600 people have been living for more than a year in mental health institutions in Tamil Nadu, according to a study by The Hans Foundation. Only Maharashtra (1,358) and West Bengal (971) had more long stay people than Tamil Nadu (612).
Lt Gen S M Mehta, (retd), chief executive officer of The Hans Foundation, said that the aim of the report was to enable exit pathways and reintegrate such people into community living options. “These people do not deserve to be where they are.”
The study, conducted by a taskforce comprising members from the ministry of health and family welfare, ministry of social justice and empowerment, NIMHANS, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and other civil society organisations, found nearly 5,000 people, more than half of them women, living in 43 mental health institutions for over a year. “Majority only had mild to moderate disability,” said professor Parasuraman, former director, TISS and chairman of the task force.
“They can all be discharged immediately, but where will they go? Nobody wants them,” said Dr B N Gangadhar, director of the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). He said institutions kept them on humanitarian grounds to prevent them from becoming homeless. “To change this, we will have to first make the society more benevolent,” he said.
Dr Nimesh Desai, director of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi, said institutions should not admit patient unless it was absolutely necessary. He said reintegration with family has higher success and those who don’t have any can be placed in longstay or halfway homes. “Nobody should be hospitalised.”
“In most cases, delay in treatment makes people’s illness severe, they require high support and end up staying for longer durations. We need more awareness,” said Dr. P. Poorna Chandrika , director, Institute of Mental Health.
The study found that 33.1% long stay users were brought by families and 55.4% were referred by the police or magistrates, indicating homelessness. It was also found that 77.1% of these people lived in closed wards and 1% in solitary confinement. A young woman in her late 20s was found to be living in solitary confinement for seven years, to stop her from consuming wastewater from an adjoining pathway.
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