JOIN US'Psychiatrists can check crimes against women'
High Court Judge N Kumar on Friday asserted that the recent spate of crimes targetting women can be checked by the psychiatrists.
Participating in the opening of three-day 21st national conference of Indian Association for Social Psychiatry (ISAP)-2014, organised by the JSS Medical College on the topic ‘Relationship and sexuality in changing social milieu’, Kumar said, a girl child was not safe in school, while women were not safe at their homes and also on streets. At work place too they were under attack.
“All these are nothing but the result of psychological disorders, during the event of which, no government can find a solution, except for psychiatrists,” he said.
Attributing the problems faced by the society in the recent past -- be it marital discord, live-in relationships or gay marriages, to one’s mental state of mind, Kumar said the solution was in psychiatry.
Referring to marital discord, Kumar said, a majority of the times either physical or mental cruelty was the reason for couples breaking up. In such cases, it was difficult to analyse the behavioural pattern of human beings, and the judiciary could offer little or no reprieve during such circumstances.
Kumar also said that a majority of matrimonial suits filed at courts in Bengaluru, were by couples from IT sector. “It could be the result of something wrong in the education sector
. Though psychology is key to many such problems, even it is riddled with woes, as there are few takers for the subject. Psychology should be treated on par with other subjects in the field of medicine, as in the days to come with rapid technological advancements, mind will become the casualty,” he added.
Vice-chancellor and Director of National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Dr P Satish Chandra said, it was time to focus on sub-specialisation in the realm, as the area of psychiatry was vast, calling for in-depth specialisation.
Chandra said, unlike earlier days, today’s changing scenario had increased the importance of psychiatry. The stress levels had gone up, causing many problems in relationships. However, the stigma attached to people seeking psychiatric or psychological help, was preventing the required intervention for individuals to address the problems, he added.
Chandra said that while the focus was on major psychological disorders that constituted only two per cent of the society, there was little or no focus on minor mental illnesses that constitute 20 pc to 25 pc of the society.