Mangalore, Oct 11:'World Mental Health Day' was observed in Mangalore on Thursday with a mental health awareness programme organised by Department of Psychiatry, Kasturba Medical College and Wenlock District Hospital, Mangalore in collaboration with Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) - Karnataka Chapter, at RAPCC Conference Hall, Wenlock Hospital.
Speaking after inaugurating the programme, Dakshina Kannada Principal District and Session Judge Arun Chowdapurkar said that mental instability, fluctuating temper, bouts of depression for silly reasons and non-accomplishment of any work were also forms of mental problems, which people neglected to address.
People tend to form perceptions about mentally-ill persons, when they see them walking on the streets with shabby appearances. As far as mental health is concerned, it concerns every person. Awareness on mental health is necessary and programmes should reach the people to find out the probable reasons for mental health problems and how to overcome them, he said.
Speaking on'Mental Health and Older Adults', president of IPS-Karnataka Chapter Dr K S Madhav Rao said that in the spectrum of mental illnesses, there were mainly two problems that required better attention - schizophrenia and bi-polar disease.
In the entire country, there were merely 4,000 psychiatrists and less than 2,000 trained nurses to treat and look after all the persons with mental illnesses. It is an uphill task, to achieve a better ratio, he said, adding that healthy changes in lifestyle would improve the mental health of a person.
Pro Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University Dr V Surendra Shetty released the leaflet on mental health awareness.
Principal Sessions Civil Judge Subramanya J S, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr H S Shivakumar and Regional Medical Officer Dr Erappa were present on the occasion.
Head of Department of Psychiatry Dr Ravish Thunga welcomed the gathering.
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