Nityanand takes an initiative to break the stigma behind mental illness through ‘Manobal- Takad Atmavishwasachi’
Pune, Oct, 05, 2016: On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, which is observed on October 10, Nitayand Rehabilitation Centre has taken a step closer to spreading awareness and educating masses on this topic. Mental illness as we have observed has forever never been spoken of or treated with openness and has always had a stigma attached to it. To break this barrier, Nityanand has taken the initiative to educate people on a larger scale this time by organizing a free educational and awareness program ‘Manobal- Takad Atmavishwasachi’ for all on Sunday, October 9, 2016, from 9am to 1 pm at Tilak Smarak Mandir, Pune. Present for the occasion will be the BJP President of Pune District- Yogesh Gogawale along with other experts like Dr. Vidyadhar Watve (ex-president IPS), Dr. Dattatray Dhawale ( Senior Consulting Psychiatrist), Dr. Shirisha Sathe, Anuradha Karkare madam, Mr. Shrirang Umrani and Dr. Dalaya.
Manobal- is a public awareness program that aims at educating masses about major mental illnesses like schizophrenia and addiction. WHO states that 1 out of every 100 suffers from schizophrenia and most alarmingly 1 out of every 7 is a victim to addiction.
Nityanand Rehabilitation Centre was started in 2002 with a humble strength of 40 inpatients. Today Nityanand has 2 centers collectively catering to 300 inmates recovering from serious mental illnesses. The treatment offered is based on Bio-Psycho- Social principles of health. Medicines take care of symptoms, counseling and psychotherapy to deal with troubling thoughts and emotions and vocational training to help the person adjust and function better at home, in society.
Dr. Nitin Dalaya- Medical Director, says, “21st century has come with many challenges and stresses. The incidence and prevalence of mental illnesses is rising and its onset is in earlier age. It is crucial to educate people about enormity of issues associated with mental illnesses. Through “Manobal” we wish to educate masses about how they can identify mental illnesses and what treatment options and infrastructure are available. We believe in “Early Detection and Timely Intervention”. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment saves an individual from developing chronic mental illness of higher severity and dysfunctional state.”
The centre has observed a considerable rise in the number of clients seeking help from them. It is seen that in 2006 per month admissions were around 16 and till 2015 it has gone up to 60 per month approximately. This just shows how the need for mental health care is increasing by leaps and bounds. In 2012 Nityanand served around 900 OPD clients and in 2013 saw almost 1500, in 2015 it doubled to 3000, a very alarming number.
A drastic change that the centre has observed is that earlier the patients they treated would be in their mid 30s or 40s whereas now they deal with adolescents as young as 15-20 years face several addictions. It goes without saying that ones mental health is of the utmost importance and should not be overlooked in any case. Most important prevention strategy is to train masses to detect early signs of illnesses and take that person to treatment modality. ‘Manobal’ is Nityanand’s first step towards public education. So join them in this social cause and help in creating awareness and break the stigma attached to this.
