Perhaps the fact that mental health has not been addressed successfully in the country is because we haven't taken into account the fact that mental health is not an isolated issue. There is more to mental health than just the concerned individual's state of mind. The family, society, and the community niche he lives in, for instance; and then factors like debt, poverty, violence, stigma, power relations, etc.
Our mental health professionals and policy makers need to consider these facts before embarking on a treatment programme. It is because of this lack of understanding of the context that very often, prescribed, stereotyped solutions have a nil or even a negative impact on the ground situation.
That is exactly what this short term programme attempts to do – to equip mental health professionals, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, nurses and policy makers with an understanding of the wide spectrum of nuances of mental health.
Chennai based Banyan Institute of Mental Health (BALM) and the University College of London are together offering a short-term three and half day programme, 'Mental health at the Margins' between February 11 and 14. The programme seeks to bring into perspective the context of mental health.
The programme includes an overview of the situation, challenges and differing solutions.
Besides including theoretical study, the programme allows for interactive study and learning to generate ideas, and the application of these ideas and understanding to situations. A UCL-BALM certificate will be issued to the participants at the end of the course.
The course is open to applicants from NGOs, private and public hospitals, and government institutions, medicos, and paramedical and nursing staff. Professionals from backgrounds like rights activists, law enforcement officials, judiciary and donor organisations would also benefit from the programme.
For further information and for registering for the programme, interested persons may contact 044 43532324 / 43532223 or log on to www.thebanyan.org
