Chhattisgarh: As corona flips life, more people opt for mental health treatment

RAIPUR: With a study table imitating the office desk, work calls replacing chit-chat with colleagues and hi-fives reduced to a mere emoji now... The virus has turned people's lives upside down.


The pressure of adapting to the new normal and the constant fear of contracting infection are the new worries now.

And depression and anxiety are the by-products.

The number of patients seeking mental health care across the state has increased significantly in the months of April, May and June. About 20,000 patients visited OPDs for mental health care service across the state during this month.

The number of patients was high in Dhamtari, Bilaspur Rajnandgaon and Kawardha districts. The State Mental Health Hospital at Sendri (Bilaspur), Chhattisgarh ’s only mental hospital, also saw a gradual increase in the OPD visits between April and June with the numbers rising to 987, 1292 and 1555 respectively.

In addition, as many as 14,125 people in quarantine centers were examined and 13,715 counseled during this period. Of these, 967 were identified with clinical mental illnesses. The largest numbers of sessions were held in districts where the migrant inflow was high. Each month more than 800 counseling sessions were held to pull these people out of self-harming mode.

Raipur-based senior consultant psychologist Ela Gupta said that a protein rich diet, besides taking food high in Zinc helps in maintaining mental healthcare. Also, one should focus on drinking enough water

"I suggest not indulging in hardcore dieting in these times as it is very important to stay healthy and fit. Besides, if you feel anxious, quickly drink a glass of water and change the place where you are sitting and try to indulge in some physical activity even if it is as small as arranging stuff on table, this will help to deviate thoughts", she said.

Besides, attempted suicides reported during this time was 1,382 with as many as 327 reported from Jangir-Champa alone followed by Baloda Bazar and Dhamtari, having high migrant influx.

As per the need of the situation, the health department got 69 counselors and 34 Medical Officers virtually trained on Mental Health and Psychosocial on Covid-19 issues from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), who were then deputed as first line response team at district hospitals.

According to health secretary Niharika Barik Singh said telemedicine technology is being used for mental health patients, particularly for Covid- 19 response. Tele-consultation has also empowered the primary care doctors to effectively deliver mental health services to the underserved population. Training of doctors on mental health is an ongoing process and the department intends to provide basic mental healthcare services right at the Primary Health Centre level at the earliest.

Those working on the ground found workload increasing all of a sudden. “Routine work was limited to OPD and some home visits. Visits to quarantine centers became a full-time activity for us,’’ said Atit Rao, a community nurse based in Raigarh.

Many patients sought tele-consultation and called the helpline for advice. The District Mental Health programme has been rolled out in 27 of the 28 districts with 26 districts having fully functional tele-clinics. Under the Chhattisgarh Community Mental Healthcare Tele-mentoring Program (CHaMP), the government has tied up with NIMHANS to train primary care doctors such as Medical Officers and Additional Medical Officers of Community Health Centres and Primary Health Centres. Between July 2019 and April 2020, as many as 14,500 patients were treated by these trained doctors at the community level.

The Medical Officers and counselors, trained with support of NIMHANS-Covid-19, are identifying mental health issues, management and providing psychological support. The trained mental health team in-turn is training ANM, and nurses on psychological first aid.