Maintenance of good mental health is as important as keeping good physical health; It is important to identify the people suffering from mental health problem at early stage, said Director General of State Health Services, Dr Kusum Narriyal, while addressing a programme organised by Burans Society here on Monday.
The programme was organised on the occasion of World Mental Health Day.
She said about seven lakh people in Uttarakhand were suffering from various forms of mental illness. Dr Narriyal said simple counselling, showing little more care and simple medication could prevent this disease from escalating in majority of the cases. She stressed on the need of pre-marital and pre conceptual counselling to drastically reduce prevalence of many diseases.
Dr Narriyal claimed if a woman started taking tablets of folic acid three to four months before conception then the chances of disease in child is reduced by 70 per cent.
The Project Director of Burans, Dr Kaaren Mathias said the Government should be encouraged to provide mental health services and medicines in every corner of our State.
“We have over 500 people who have different types of psycho-social disability participating in our project. Over 80 people have recovered and have returned to live a normal life. We can all take steps to welcome and include people impacted by mental illness. Today the Burans team is celebrating all the small steps that have been taken for mental health in Uttarakhand this year,’’ she said.
Burans is working in Raipur and Sahaspur blocks of Dehradun district. The project coordinator, Jeet Bahadur said majority of people did not realise that their mental problems were actually sign of an illness.
“There are two important steps we can take for mental wellness. One is to talk about our mental stress and difficulties with a supportive person. Secondly if problems are serious one should consult a mental health doctor,’’ he said.
The highlight of the programme was active participation by a group of young school dropouts and patients who have recovered from their mental illness.