Odisha Govt To Develop Plan To Deal Mental Health Issues, Prevent Suicide

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will develop an outline plan for early screening and immediate intervention at healthcare facilities to deal with rising cases of mental illness and suicide.

According to reports, the decision was taken at a two-day regional workshop on ‘Emerging trends of suicide prevention’ held at the Centre of Excellence (CoE), Mental Health Institute, SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH).

The right intervention method is to identify people, who are on the verge of committing suicide. It is possible with the involvement of family, friends, and community members, said Director of Public Health Niranjan Mishra at the workshop.

Several health experts from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), medical colleges and hospitals, country representatives of WHO, state government officials, the National Health Mission, and representatives from different related departments attended the workshop and shared their ideas to frame the outline.

“All related departments including Women and Child Development, Mission Shakti, SC&ST, Labour and Education will be involved in developing the framework for providing care and support to prevent suicide in the community,” added Mishra.

The framework will be prepared with a focus on creating alertness on signs and symptoms of mental illness, reducing access to harmful elements, and firearms, and strengthening support systems at individuals, families, workplaces, schools, and colleges with support and inter-sectoral coordination.

“Odisha government’s intervention for mental health during Covid is exemplary,” TNIE quoted the director of NIMHANS Pratima Murthy as saying and added that other states should also take up initiatives for suicide prevention.

It is pertinent to mention here that around 30 high school and higher secondary school teachers are being currently trained under  ‘Strategic Intervention for Suicide Prevention’, a short-term course designed by SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, to prevent incidents of suicide by students.

The training began on November 1 and will be held every Tuesday till November 29 following which they will screen vulnerable high school and college students prone to substance abuse, behavioural disorder, and personality disorder which may be a precursor to suicidal tendencies among the students.

The training is being conducted by Odisha Digital Academy for Mental Health under Mental Health Institute, SCBMCH.