Mental Health

All of these platforms have "force-fed children dangerous and harmful content with predatory algorithms, said the group

Industry regulator nudging companies to underwrite policies that include people with mental illnesses

The regulator is of the view that the pressures and stressors at workplace and personal life cannot be addressed through these professional skills, procedures or knowledge

Insomnia, anxiety, depression and crippling uncertainty about the future. As days pass into weeks and the cracks in their town widen and deepen, hundreds of people displaced by land subsidence in Joshimath and forced into relief camps are battling a range of mental health problems, say residents and experts. With no end in sight to the crisis, hundreds of others in Uttarakhand's fragile mountain town still lucky enough to be at home are frantic with worry about when not if they too will have to move into government-run shelters, hotels or just leave town. The land subsidence event last month has had an impact on everyone. The major symptoms among affected people are insomnia and anxiety," Dr Jyotsana Naithwal, a psychiatrist from AIIMS Rishikesh deployed at the community health centre (CHC) in Joshimath, told PTI in a phone interview. She is part of the team of three trained psychiatrists and one clinical psychologist deployed in the town of over 20,000 people to help people battl

Seattle's public school district filed a lawsuit against Big Tech claiming that companies were responsible for a worsening mental health crisis among students

Insurance regulator intervened, India Inc stepped up but the road to awareness and acceptance remains long

From Yoga sessions and zumba classes to 24X7 helplines and mental wellness workshops, coaching institutes in Kota say they take multiple steps to help students tackle the anxiety of preparing for competitive exams. The coaching hub is back in focus after three students died last week -- two of them were found hanging at their hostel rooms, and the third one allegedly consumed a poisonous substance. Prominent coaching institute Allen, which currently has over 1.5 lakh students in its various medical (NEET) and engineering (JEE) entrance preparatory courses, runs special programmes such as "Tum Hoge Kamyab" (you will succeed) and "Wings of Wisdom", besides regular yoga sessions and zumba classes, for the mental wellbeing of its students. "We have a dedicated helpline which works round the clock and over 50 concerned calls from students or parents are addressed daily through it," said Dr Harish Sharma, Principal Counsellor and Student-Behaviour Expert at Allen. "For every 10 students

A new study has found that younger adults who take preemptive steps to respond to stress are better able to avoid those negative health outcomes

Firms using data, sensitising managers to help employees as experts say more awareness, acceptability needed

The Central government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court it will set up an online portal in a month to provide seamless information with regard to mental health facilities available in the country. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer G K Bansal seeking rehabilitation and COVID-19 vaccination of mentally ill people currently lodged in various hospitals and mental healthcare institutions across the country. Additional Solicitor General Madhvi Divan, appearing for the Centre, told the bench, also comprising justices Hima Kohli and J B Pardiwala, the government has invited tenders so real time information on mental health facilities right down to the district level can be displayed on the portal. The portal would be ready and functional within a period of a month, the law officer said. The bench then adjourned the hearing on the PIL and said it will be listed after a month. The top court had on September 1, 2021 passed a slew of directions

Raja Shanmugam from FWF said the age of a child is a sensitive factor which should be taken into serious consideration by the parents

.

.

/ -- Wysa, the world's leading AI-based digital companion for behavioral health, today announces plans for a Hindi language mental health app, which will also be accessible through WhatsApp. ACT, a non-profit venture philanthropy platform, is supporting the initiative and is seeking a co-funding partner to propel the development further. The pilot is expected to commence in early 2023. Says Neetha Joy, Director - Healthcare at ACT, "This is a first of a kind effort for us, to partner with an established player to make a proven solution accessible to millions. With 14% of our population suffering from mental health disorders and the pandemic exacerbating the lack of access to quality care, we need innovative solutions to address this chasm as there aren't enough trained care providers to meet this latent demand." The first iteration of the Hindi app will guide users through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) exercises via text with a mobile phone-based conversational agent, to help ..

.

Recent years have seen a leap of progress when it comes to de-stigmatising conversations around words like depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, OCD, stress response syndromes, psychotic disorders, etc

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for making mental health a global priority and urged actions to promote universal quality mental health care

World Health Organisation has called on the member states in the South-East Asia Region to intensify action to achieve access for all to quality mental health care

Every year on October 10, nations and organisations across the world observe mental health day to raise awareness about mental health issues

The government is working on launching a national tele-mental health programme and a toll-free helpline number soon to enable wider access to mental health assistance across the country. The national tele-mental health programme (NTMHP) was first announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2022-23. "The pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages. To better the access to quality mental health counselling and care services, a 'National Tele-Mental Health Programme' will be launched," she had said. This will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence, with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) being the nodal centre and the International Institute of Information Technology, Bengaluru (IIITB) providing technological support. As part of the programme, at least one tele-MANAS (Tele-Mental Health Assistance and Nationally Actionable Plan) cell would be established in each state an