Mental health- plugging the gap

The President of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL), Mythili Hazarika was invited as one of the speakers in public health awareness webinar organised by Public Health Study Circle, Northeast Region (NER).

Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme

Bornali Das, the Secretary of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL) is invited as a resource person in two-day capacity building programme for women welfare officers and district coordinators under Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme of 15 districts, organised by State Resource Centre for Women, Assam (SRCW, Assam).

Monitoring mental health

“Nature” reports the initiatives of the President of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL), Mythili Hazarika and her colleagues to tackle the psychological impact of the COVID pandemic in the State of Assam, Republic of India. “Profile of distress callers and service utilisation of tele-counselling among the population of Assam, India: an exploratory study during COVID-19” by Hazarika et al. and published in the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®) is highlighted. Focus is drawn to the “Best Practice Guidelines for Telepsychology during Disasters (COVID-19 Pandemic)” by Hazarika et al. The report also throws light to the state-wide remote mental-health service called Monon wherein 400 volunteer counsellors were trained and anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 in Assam received a call from the service. This proactive approach helped overcome stigma and lack of awareness related to mental illness, and the service had called more than 43,000 people.