Adopt culturally coherent methods: Expert

KOCHI: Every culture has its own ways of dealing with mental health. Instead of imitating western models, India should look at  culturally appropriate models of dealing with mental health, said Dinesh  Bhugra, president-elect of World Psychiatric Association.      An MBBS graduate from the Pune University, Dinesh Bhugra is the first Indian to be elected to the post. “When the resources are so low in comparison to the western countries, adopting western models will not work here. What can be done is to make use of the systems that are in place. “An Imam and an Obiaman told me that when they get patients with a particular set of symptoms they deal with it themselves. Others are referred to a psychiatrist,” he said.“Similarly, there was this model of making use of teachers to identify patients. The school teacher would teach her students about particular set of symptoms of mental diseases. “When the students learn this they will identify people back in their village who have similar symptoms. There are lots of such models. India should try to make use of these models and make use of the resources that are available.” There are two major challenges facing mental health in India today, the doctor said, “One is the rapid economic growth and the change in the expectations of people. We need to have mechanisms to deal with this high expectations and the pressures that they bring about. Another challenge is large migration  of the Indian population from rural areas to urban areas. In a number of studies it has been proved that migrant population have very high rates of psychiatric problems like depression,” he said.But it is not all doom and gloom, the doctor says. India has its own strong points. “When I travelled to different parts of the country,  one thing that has been common here is the strong sense of kinship. People do take pains to take care of their family. Another aspect is spirituality in terms of the understanding of medication and yoga, to the idea of religion as a network, is very strong here,” he said.