Mind Matters! online

Depressed New Zealander cooks & Eats own finger

2011-04-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

News in Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Depressed-New-Zealander-cooks-and-eats-own-finger/articleshow/7997562.cms

Self harm and Suicidal thoughts are one of the Severity indicators in Depression.
Self harm and Suicidal thoughts are one of the Risk indicators in Depression

Other Risk Indicators are
Hopelessness
Psychosis
Severe Neglect
Catatonia

Other Severity Indicators are
Psychosis
Catatonia

Want to know more about Catatonia?

Want to know more about Depression?

Mindmattersonline.com from 27th April 2011
First Indian Psychiatric website coming up in English & Telugu Languages.

Loss for Depression, Fear for Anxiety

2011-04-13T05:15:00.000-07:00

Just read this news about two sisters in their 40s in timesofindia (News)

The sisters had confined themselves to their flat for last 60 years
have not been eating for long time
have not been taking care of themselves for long time (they were smelling)
they were not mixing with people for long time
they were passively committing suicide by self starvation

When we see what triggered this off, we find that
they lost their dad few years back
they lost their mom some time later
they lost their younger brother due to differences
they lost their favourite dog 6 months ago

so what do we see? a pattern? pattern of ?

Yes, of loss.
Loss is the pre-curser of depression, if there is a trigger.

Loss of face
Loss of status
Loss of relations
Loss of money
Loss of position
Loss of materials
Loss of prestige

its loss loss and loss.....so beware of multiple losses in your family, friends, relatives, colleagues etc

WE MUST ALL TRY TO HELP PREVENT THESE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

Genesis of Mind Matters!

2011-03-27T23:49:00.001-07:00

The contextual genesis of Mind Matters! is too global to be localized to any one particular country. But since I have to explain it, let me give as an example my own country but I feel this is equally applicable to countries starting from Srilanka to Tibet, from Pakistan to Burma, from Algeria to Southafrica, from Mexico to Somalia, from Venezuela to Argentina............................

India:- 28 states and Union territories

Andhra Pradesh:- 23 districts

Population/district (N1):- 3 million

Psychiatric prevalence in India:- 0.95% to 37% (Ref 1)

Average prevalence taken as:- 5%

Total Psychiatric patients/district (N2)= 1,50,000

Mental Health Care services uptake;- 50% (assumed)

Mental health service users (N3):- 75,000

Time for Initial consultation (ICs) (T1)= 60 mts

Time for Follow/up Consultations (FCs) (T2) = 15mts

50% of N3 have only 1 IC/year (T3)= 37500 clinical hrs

30% of of N3 have 1 IC + 1 FC/year (T4)= 22500+5625= 28125 clinical hrs

20% of of N3 use 1 IC + 2 FCs/year (T5) = 15000+7500=22500 hrs = 88125 clinical hrs

If a psychiatrist works @

hrs/day = 12

days/week = 6

weeks/year = 50

Total clincial hours/psychiatrist (T6) = 12X6X50 =3600 clinical hrs

Total Psychiatrists needed for a district with population of 3 million, with 5% prevalence of psychiatric illnesses and only 50% utilisation of mental health services

T5 =88125 hrs

T6 =3600 hrs

T5/T6= N4= 88125/3600 = 25 psychiatrists

Total Psychiatrists needed for a state Andhrapradesh = 23XN4 =23X25= 575 psychiatrists

Total Psychiatrists needed for India = (rough averaging psychiatrists/state) X (no of states)

= 400X28=11200

But

what about the concentration of all the health care professionals in urban centres?

what about the time needed for consulting the worried well?

what about the time needed for inpatient care?

what about the time needed for contextual research (i.e. research in India)?

what about the time needed for sevice development?

what about the time needed for ensuring quality of care?

what about the time needed for maintaining CPD (continuing professional development)?

This is where Mind Matters! comes from.

Mentally ill can't be chained anymore....Hopefully.

2011-03-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

Photo taken without permission from http://theaashafamily.blogspot.com/ a NGO in chennai caring for the mentally ill, for public education purposes.

Indian mental health care bill 2010 is on its way

If implemented, this would remove the indignity of mentally ill being chained to beds and cots except in exceptional conditions

It took only 10 years after the Erwadi trajedy for this change to come in India.

Hopefully it will not go the way of the women reservation bill.

Stay tuned to read an article by a lawyer on the proposed draft of Indian Mental Health Care Bill.

Read this in telugu at మైండ్ మాటర్స్ ఆన్ లైన్. (mindmatters-online.blogspot.com)

Who are we?

2011-03-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Dr Veereshwar Rao Bandla

Qualifications:- MBBS GMC, Hyderabad, AP, India
   MRCpsych (UK)

Current Post:- Acting Consultant in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,
   St Andrews Hospital, Northampton-UK

Interests-Professional:- Personal & Personality Development

Interests-Personal:- Spiritual Quest, Practitioner of Isha & Vipassana Yogas

Motto:- Be Happy

   Dr Raghavendra Bethamcharla

Qualifications:- MBBS (GMC, Hyd, AP, India)
   MRCPsych (UK)
   (MBA) (Edinburgh Business School-Harriot-Watt University)

Current Post:- Locum Associate Specialist in NeuroPsychiatric Division,
   St Andrews Hospital, Northampton, UK

Interests-Professional:- Service Development- Telepsychiatry
   Mental Health Awareness & Stigma
   Psychopharmacology & Personality Disorders

Interests-Personal:- All things beautiful- Poetry, Literature, Music & Films
   www.drbr1976.blogspot.com
   www.nemechinaratalu.blogspot.com

We are alumni of Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad of 1995 joining batch. We share a passion for truth and discovery through observation, experience, thinking and discussion. We believe that the current level of mental health care in India and other developing countries is inadequate and we believe in trying to change it to whatever extent we can.

Veeru, as he likes to be called by near and dear, is dispassionately attached to personal and personality development and practises the oft repeated but not practised adage of many psychiatric professionals--"Empowerment".

Raghu, as I like to be called, am more biologically bent in clinical practise and am passionate about service development being equitable. I believe totally in the utilisation of the current IT revolution in breaking the many accessibility barriers in provision of mental health care. I believe that A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD to break these accessibility barriers worldwide. To me, "Business" is not a a swear word in connection with healthcare, if the vision is firmly rooted in customer.

Together we believe that we can bring quality mental health care and living skills for personal development if we try hard and persistent enough to everyone in need of these and hence this effort.

Mind Matters! in your language

2011-03-13T00:42:00.000-08:00

Initially starting as a bilingual website (English and Telugu), we hope to have a pan Indian language present within 3 years.

We are also in the process of negotiations to start the Bulgarian version of the website and if successful, will give us a big encouragement to start thinking even big. Sky shall be the limit then!

And the muhoorat for this venture is 27th April 2011

We are giving the first tranche of money out to the developers tomorrow, on the navami.

So here is wishing us all the best.

And that is not all

We would like to know what YOU want from us,
actually we would like to be guided by you in our journey
you may be a service user,
you may be a carer, friend or relative,
you might have seen someone suffer,
you might be a professional in this,
or you might just like to volunteer
whoever you may be
If you have the interest & time,
this is our open invitation to be an advisory member on our editorial board
write to us on ddrgrp@gmail.com

95/7 to mindmattersonline.com

2011-01-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

"Sustainable, Accessible, Affordable, Acceptable, Quality Mental Health Care to ALL"
Project 1 starts
95 days to go.
Wish us Good Luck...we need it a lot