Issues related to mental health discussed at meet

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 20

The 39th annual conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society North Zone was inaugurated today.

Prof (Dr) Rajeev Gupta, a leading psychiatrist of the city and organising chairperson of the conference, said on the first day of the conference experts from various parts of the country discussed issues related to mental health.

Dr Sandeep Goyal, Professor of Psychiatry at the Christian Medical College and organising secretary of the conference, said the theme of the conference is “Changing Paradigm from Hope to Recovery”.

Approximately 300 delegates from all over North India, including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, attended the conference.

Dr Rajeev Gupta said Dr Anjali Chhabria from Mumbai spoke about “schizophrenia: it is not end of the road”. There were two symposiums - one by Dr SK Khandelwal and his team from AIIMS on the topic “the cannabis debate: the two sides of coin” and other by Dr Rakesh Chadda and his team from AIIMS on the topic “use of mobile technology in management of psychiatric disorders”. Dr Savita Malhotra from the PGI, Chandigarh, spoke on violence among adolescents and solutions to adolescent problems.

Dr Nitin Gupta from Chandigarh told about the benefits of early diagnosis and intervention in Psychosis. Dr Nimesh Desai from IHBAS, Delhi, spoke about the future of psychiatry.

There were talks about insomnia and sleep problems by Dr Ravi Gupta from Dehradun.

Dr Neera Kohli from Lucknow spoke about the role of imaging studies in intellectual disability. Manu Gupta from Jammu spoke on borderline personality disorder.

Dr Rajeev Gupta said psychiatrist would discuss recent advances in psychiatry and current issues of the region, including drug dependence.

He said drug addiction is a complex psychosocial problem, which could be treated with medicines and counselling.