The Matcheswalla who lit their dimaag ki batti

He was the one who took psychiatry to Masina Hospital. Two decades later, Mumbai is still thanking Dr Yusuf A Matcheswalla

He was the one who took psychiatry to Masina Hospital. Two decades later, Mumbai is still thanking Dr Yusuf A Matcheswalla

HE began helping Mumbai's disquieted lot from a cubbyhole clinic in Bhendi Bazaar 24-years-ago.

Today, 51-year-old Dr Matcheswalla, MD (Psychiatry), MD (Forensic), DPM, FIPS has a team of about 40 members that includes psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and sociologists who provide preventive treatment, cure and rehabilitation for mental disorders at Byculla's Masina Hospital in South Mumbai.

In an era when allopathy still amazed many, Matcheswalla was busy urging schools to take up mental medicine.

Mind over matter: Dr Dr Yusuf Matcheswallau00a0 at one of his workshops in Mumbai.

"I realised from day one that taking psychiatric medicine to schools was the key to preventive treatment," he said.

Matcheswalla first approached Lokmanya school near Bhendi Bazaar in 1998. Convincing the principal was tough.

"But I wanted to nip psychological and behavioural disorders in the bud." His efforts gradually bore fruit, and convents like St Agnes and Christ Church seeked help, too.

Timely help

The pioneer feels that timely psychiatric aid can cut crime rates drastically. "Whether it's a teenager killing his peer, road rage, drug abuse everything is mostly a function of one's childhood experiences," he reasons.
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Besides childhood and adolescent mental health, Dr Matcheswalla's counseling centre deals with 46 other ailments, including problems stemming from drug abuse, sexual health, marital relations and workplace stress.

Today, he observes, both parents and schools in the community have realised the importance of mental health. Change, as they say, begins in the mind.