Paper & poster

In the 28th Annual Conference of Indian Psychiatric Society, Assam State Branch (ASBCON 2018) at the Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health (LGBRIMH), Tezpur, Shyamanta Das, the Editor-in-Chief of the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®) co-authored the following paper/ poster presentations: “A comparison on suicidal risk of patients with bipolar versus unipolar depression: the research design and a pilot study” by Porimita Chutia, “A study on seasonal variation and sex specific psychiatric service utilisation in general hospital” by Chayanika Choudhury, “Case report on disorder of sexual differentiation with depression” by Nilofar Rahman (other authors: Mythili Hazarika, the President of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC [SoMHiL] and Utpal Bora), and “Investigating the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and psychotic disorders with implications toward a brain-based diagnostic system and novel therapeutic approaches: the research design and a pilot study” by Jyotismita Choudhury (other authors: Samrat Singh Bhandari, the Assistant Editor of OJPAS®, Dina Raja, Chimanjita Phukan, and Simanta Talukdar, Member of SoMHiL).

Chayanika Choudhury won the third best paper presentation in Dr. Indreswar Dutta Memorial Award. Jyotismita Choudhury won the best poster presentation.

Felicitation & chair

Speaker Soumitra Ghosh is felicitated by Shyamanta Das, the Editor-in-Chief of the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®) in the 28th Annual Conference of Indian Psychiatric Society, Assam State Branch (ASBCON 2018) at the Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health (LGBRIMH), Tezpur. Also, along with Ajit Goswami, Shyamanta Das co-chaired the session on “Personality and substance use: role of pharmacotherapy” by Vivek Benegal.

Psycho-social aspects of children

The Secretary of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL), Bornali Das was invited to speak in the Workshop on Child Rights and Child Protection, organised by the Ministry of Railways in collaboration with Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights at Rang Bhawan, Maligaon, Guwahati. She attended the said workshop and spoke on the theme “Psycho-social aspects of Children in Contact with Railways” in one of the Technical Sessions.

ICD-11 Bodily Distress Disorders

The World Health Organization Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse recognises that Shyamanta Das, the Editor-in-Chief of the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®) has participated in the Internet-Based Field Study for ICD-11 Mental and Behavioural Disorders: Bodily Distress Disorders.

Simanta Talukdar joins SoMHiL

Dr. Simanta Talukdar, MD joins the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL). He is the Resident Physician of the Department of Psychiatry at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital in Guwahati, Assam, India.

Editorial Board of OJPAS®

Shahul Ameen, Prosenjit Ghosh, and Sujit Sarkhel join the Editorial Board of the Open Journal of Psychiatry (OJPAS®). Editor-in-Chief of Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, Shahul Ameen is the Psychiatrist from St. Thomas Hospital, Changanacherry, Kerala, India. Prosenjit Ghosh is the Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Silchar Medical College Hospital, Silchar, Assam, India, and Sujit Sarkhel is the Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Memory dynamics of Wilson’s disease

“Wilson’s disease: a cognitive neuropsychological perspective” by Doyel Ghosh, Pritha Mukhopadhyay, Prasanta Kumar Roy, and Atanu Biswas is the new Advance Online Publication of the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®).

Child abuse

The President of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL), Dr. Mythili Hazarika was a panelist at NIPCCD, Guwahati on ‘Child Abuse’ as a part of the sensitisation programme for the principals of Kendriya Vidyalayas and Novodaya schools of Northeast, Odisha, and West Bengal. Efforts were made to rip apart the rigid mindset and stringent rules in dealing with children’s emotional and behavioural issues. With children, only child friendly and child-centric approaches work, all others fail!

Suicide prevention

On the World Suicide Prevention Day, Dr. Mythili Hazarika, the President of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL), delivered a lecture in the Department of Psychology and Disability Studies, Gauhati University among the students and faculties, to enhance the knowledge and applied aspects of suicide prevention and reduction in the community.

Elder abuse

Shyamanta Das, the Editor-in-Chief of the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®) spoke on ‘Role of Family and Media in reducing Elder Abuse’ in the symposium on Elder Abuse, with RK Lenin Singh, Soumitra Ghosh, and S Gojendra Singh in the 14th Annual National Conference of Indian Association for Geriatric Mental Health (GERON 2018) in Imphal, Manipur. The symposium was chaired by Dr. Th. Bhimo Singh, Dr. RK Kumarjit Singh, and Dr. Arabinda Brahma.