Date:27/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/27/stories/2006032701480500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

NIMHANS to train people in counselling J&K quake survivors

Special Correspondent

Six-day module will be formally launched on April 4

Institute plans to train 300 to 400 personnel in psychosocial care of victims
It is planning to set up a missionary centre within Jammu and Kashmir

Local officials to be trained to identify symptoms of psychosomatic trauma

Bangalore: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) is continuing to provide support for post-trauma psychological rehabilitation of earthquake victims in Jammu and Kashmir.

The institute has prepared a training module to prepare local people in counselling earthquake survivors.

The module is part of an extensive plan to train people to recognise and counsel those with stress, anxiety and other emotional problems, found among people affected by a major disaster.

To be formally launched on April 4, this six-day module from NIMHANS will draw on the experience of its doctors and health workers who were involved in psychological care of tsunami victims in the south. The aim is to augment the services of trained personnel who are limited in numbers while the earthquake survivors have very high need of psychiatric care.

Apart from the earthquake, the Kashmir region also witnesses militant violence.

"The needs of psychiatric care are high in Kashmir, but unfortunately, trained personnel are very few. We aim to train more people there." NIMHANS Director and Vice-Chancellor D. Nagaraja said.

The plan is to train 300 to 400 personnel, including local government officials, doctors and health workers, in the psychosocial care of victims and their families. NIMHANS has stationed one research worker in Jammu and Kashmir, but local resource persons are lacking.

Over the next five years, the institute will train a significant number of people to provide sustained and personal care for better mental health. Local officials will be trained to identify symptoms of psychosomatic trauma and specialised needs of individual cases.

The identified persons can then be referred to doctors and psychiatrists.

"We are also planning a missionary centre within Jammu and Kashmir which will be equipped to handle and meet all forms of psychological needs of victims. This centre will help not only the earthquake survivors but also victims of other kinds of disasters and violence,'' Dr Nagaraja said.