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Mass media including television, internet, and newspapers influences public views about various issues by means of how it covers an issue. Newspapers have a wider reach and may affect the impact that a news story has on the reader by factors such as placement of the story within the different pages. We did a pilot study to see how two English newspapers from Mumbai, India were covering psychiatry related news stories. The study was done over a period of 3 months. We found a total of 870 psychiatry related news stories in the two newspapers over 3 months with the majority of them being covered in the main body of the newspapers. Sex‑related crime stories and/or sexual dysfunction stories received the highest coverage among all the news while treatment and/or recovery related stories received very little coverage. It is crucial that the print media takes more efforts in improving reporting of psychiatry‑related stories and help in de‑stigmatizing psychiatry as a discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Qualitative research methods (QRMs) bear a critical role in psychiatry as they explore the phenomenology of psychiatric illness and its sociocultural dimensions. However, there is limited evidence regarding its use in psychiatric research in India. Aim: This study, under the aegis of mapping qualitative health research in India initiative, attempted to landscape the use of QRMs in psychiatry and elicited expert opinion on its potential, perceived quality, and scope for improvement. Materials and Methods: We reviewed studies using qualitative methodology published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry (IJP) and the abstracts presented at the Annual Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (ANCIPS) between 2010 and 2019. Titles and abstracts were screened and shortlisted; full-text articles were checked to identify the relevant ones. In addition, ten experts comprising psychiatry journal reviewers, editors, and conference scientific committee members were interviewed to elicit their views and suggestions. Results: Out of 356 papers published in IJP between 2010 and 2019, only 12 papers used QRMs: five qualitative and seven mixed methods. Out of 2297 abstracts published between 2010 and 2019 in ANCIPS, only 28 had used QRMs, consisting of 20 qualitative and eight mixed methods. The findings reveal that qualitative research is still an understudied domain in Indian psychiatry with a substantial need for rigor and quality. Conclusions: To catalyze the use of qualitative research in Indian psychiatry, continuing medical education programs through workshops or webinar mode need to be imparted. These trainings should aim at building skills on qualitative study design, data collection, analysis, and writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary Care Doctors (PCDs) are the first contact for majority of patients with psychiatric disorders across the world including India. They often provide symptomatic treatment which is naturally inadequate. Absence or inadequate exposure to psychiatric training during undergraduate medical education is one of the prime reasons. Classroom training (CRT), a standard practice to train PCDs is driven by specialist based psychiatric curriculum and inherently lacks clinical translational value. Aim and Context: The 'Department of Psychiatry' of 'National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences', Bengaluru, India has recently come up with an innovative digitally driven modules of 'Primary Care Psychiatry Program' (PCPP) for practicing PCDs. Goal of this paper is to provide an overview of all these (five) modules with its various stages of implementation. Methods: Authors briefly discuss the current status of primary care psychiatry in India and also narrate the newly designed five modules of PCPP in this paper. Results and Discussion: An adopted psychiatric curriculum is designed in 'Clinical Schedules for Primary Care Psychiatry' (CSP) which is an integral part of PCPP. This is brief clinical schedules contains culturally appropriate screening questionnaire, transdiagnostic classification of 8 core psychiatric disorders, diagnostic, referral and management guidelines. PCPP contains 5 modules named as orientation module, basic module, advanced module [Tele-psychiatric 'On-Consultation Training' (Tele-OCT)], videoconference based continuing skill development module, and collaborative video consultation modules which covers all essential areas of primary care psychiatry for practicing PCDs. Last three modules are fully designed digital modules in hub and spoke model of Tele Medicine. In this designed program, the CSP and Tele-OCT are two path braking innovations having inbuilt higher clinical translation value. The challenges and opportunities that could be faced during its implementation across India are also discussed. Conclusion and Future Directions: Innovative PCPP is pragmatic in nature and has potential for higher clinical translational value. Once validated thoroughly, PCPP has potential for pan-India expansion. There is a need for artificial intelligence-based modules for next phase of PCPP in India considering her population and lesser number of available psychiatrists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: General hospital psychiatry units (GHPUs) are the major providers of mental health services in India. Unlike in high-income countries, GHPUs in India are also the main training centers for providing postgraduate training in psychiatry and allied disciplines. Aim: This paper traces the history of the GHPUs in India from beginning to the present. Material and Methods: PubMed, old issues of the Indian Journal of Psychiatry and related sources were searched with key words general hospital and psychiatry both electronically and manually to look for the related literature. Results: The history of the development of GHPUs is discussed under 3 phases: beginning to the preindependence period, independence to the year of the launch of the National Mental Health Programme of India, and afterward. Contributions of the GHPUs towards service development, teaching, research, community awareness and reducing stigma, and their future scope are discussed. Conclusion: GHPUs have been a revolutionary development in India with great contribution in the field of mental heath [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A staggering 85% of the global population resides in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs). India stands as an exemplary pioneer in the realm of mental health initiatives among LAMICs, having launched its National Mental Health Program in 1982. It is imperative to effectively evaluate mental health systems periodically to cultivate a dynamic learning model sustained through continuous feedback from mental healthcare structures and processes. Materials and Methods: The National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) embarked on the Mental Health Systems Assessment (MHSA) in 12 representative Indian states, following a pilot program that contextually adapted the World Health Organization's Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems. The methodology involved data collection from various sources and interviews with key stakeholders, yielding a set of 15 quantitative, 5 morbidity, and 10 qualitative indicators, which were employed to encapsulate the functional status of mental health systems within the surveyed states by using a scorecard framework. Results: The NMHS MHSA for the year 2015--16 unveiled an array of indices, and the resultant scorecard succinctly encapsulated the outcomes of the systems' evaluation across the 12 surveyed states in India. Significantly, the findings revealed considerable interstate disparities, with some states such as Gujarat and Kerala emerging as frontrunners in the evaluation among the surveyed states. Nevertheless, notable gaps were identified in several domains within the assessed mental health systems. Conclusion: MHSA, as conducted within the framework of NMHS, emerges as a dependable, valid, and holistic mechanism for documenting mental health systems in India. However, this process necessitates periodic iterations to serve as critical indicators guiding the national mental health agenda, including policies, programs, and their impact evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The burden of mental illness among the scheduled tribe (ST) population in India is not known clearly. Aim: The aim was to identify and appraise mental health research studies on ST population in India and collate such data to inform future research. Materials and Methods: Studies published between January 1980 and December 2018 on STs by following exclusion and inclusion criteria were selected for analysis. PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase, Sociofile, Cinhal, and Google Scholar were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. Quality of the included studies was assessed using an appraisal tool to assess the quality of cross-sectional studies and Critical Appraisal Checklist developed by Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Studies were summarized and reported descriptively. Results: Thirty-two relevant studies were found and included in the review. Studies were categorized into the following three thematic areas: alcohol and substance use disorders, common mental disorders and sociocultural aspects, and access to mental health-care services. Sociocultural factors play a major role in understanding and determining mental disorders. Conclusion: This study is the first of its kind to review research on mental health among the STs. Mental health research conducted among STs in India is limited and is mostly of low-to-moderate quality. Determinants of poor mental health and interventions for addressing them need to be studied on an urgent basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Use of coercive measures in mental health care is an important issue for research. There are scarce data available on perception and attitudes toward coercion among Indian psychiatrists. Aims: This study aims to study psychiatrists' attitude and perspectives on the use of coercive measure in clinical practice against the background of family and patients' opinion. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at the Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, India. Psychiatrist in charge of the inpatients was asked about their general opinion on coercion and was administered Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale questionnaire. Findings were compared to previously published studies on patients' opinion and family opinion in the same sample. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Coercion proved to be a common measure applied in nearly 70% of the patients studied. The 189 psychiatrists participating in the study almost all perceived coercion as care, protection and safety, and as protection from dangerous situations. About 66% of psychiatrists perceived physical and chemical restraint (sedation) as necessary and acceptable in acute emergency care. One-third of the psychiatrists felt their patients lost autonomy, dignity, and the possibility of interpersonal contact. The same amount agreed that some patients could have been treated with less restriction and fewer coercive measures. Conclusion: Psychiatrists felt that physical and chemical restraints are necessary and acceptable in acute emergencies. Most psychiatrists considered coercion as a caring protective and safety attitude but also acknowledged its potential negative impact on patient dignity and therapeutic relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the perception of the young psychiatrists (aged ≤45 years) about their training received during the postgraduate training period. Methodology: An online E-mail survey using Survey Monkey electronic platform evaluated the perception of 451 psychiatrists about their own perception of training received during the postgraduation period. Results: About two-third (n = 308; 68.3%) of the respondents reported that their overall training was 'good' or 'very good'. However, training was rated as poor/very poor in subspecialties of child and adolescent psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry by 26.2% and 26.9% of the participants, respectively. Exposure/training was rated as "poor/very poor" by more than one-fifth of the participants in areas of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and deep brain stimulation (69.9%), rehabilitation psychiatry (47%), forensic psychiatry (45.5%), psychodynamics (40.5%), neuroimaging (38.1%), psychotherapy (34.8%), orientation to private practice (26.9%), statistics (34.1%), writing skills (24.4%), ethical principles of research (23.5%), women mental health (23.3%), psychosexual medicine (22.7%), and research methodology (21.5%). Regarding academic activities involving writing skills, although majority (72.5%) of the participants reported being involved in writing case reports and half (50.3%) reported involvement in writing original articles, but exposure to writing other types of article was quite low. Training in different types psychotherapies in the form of adequate exposure, carrying out and supervision to different types of psychotherapy was inadequate/low for psychodynamic psychotherapies, rational emotive therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, eclectic psychotherapy, and other kind of therapies. A high proportion of respondents reported having good competence in the administration of modified electroconvulsive therapy and making presentation in academic fora just after passing degree from their institutes and at the time of survey (current competence). When comparisons were done between the different groups of institutes, significant difference was noted across all aspects of training. Conclusions: The present survey reflects that there is a variation in the psychiatry training in India. Accordingly, it can be said that there is a need to develop a model for competency-based training program at the level of the Indian Psychiatric Society in consonance with training regulatory bodies like the Medical Council of India, which can be implemented across the country to harmonize the training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: World Health Organization (WHO) is in the process of revising the International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD.10). For increasing the acceptability of the ICD.11, WHO along with World Psychiatric Association (WPA), conducted a survey of psychiatrists around the world, in which 386 psychiatrists from India participated. Aim: To present the findings of "WPA.WHO Global Survey of Psychiatrists' Attitudes toward Mental Disorders Classification" for Indian psychiatrists who participated in the survey as members of Indian Psychiatric Society. Methodology: The online survey was sent to qualified psychiatrists who are members of Indian Psychiatric Society and are residing in India. Results: Of the 1702 members who were urged to participate in the survey, 386 (22.7%) participated. Most(79%) of the psychiatrists opined that they use formal classificatory systems in their day-to-day clinical practice. ICD. 10 was the most commonly (71%) followed classificatory system. Nearly half (48%) felt the need for only 10.30 categories for use in clinical settings and another 44% opined that 31-100 categories are required for use. Most of the participants (85%) suggested that a modified/simpler classificatory system should be designed for primary care practitioners. Similarly, the same number of participants (89%) argued that for maximum utility of a nosological system diagnostic criteria should provide flexible guidance that allows cultural variation and clinical judgement. About 75% opined that the diagnostic system they were using was difficult to apply across cultures. Conclusion: Findings of the survey suggest that classificatory systems are routinely used in day.to.day practice by most of the participating psychiatrists in India and most expect that future classificatory system should provide flexible guidance that allows cultural variation and clinical judgement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]