A shrink-ing problem

Psychiatrists say it is impossible to implement the SC directive, as there are too many colleges and too few trained mental health professionals in the city

Psychiatrists say it is impossible to implement the SC directive, as there are too many colleges and too few trained mental health professionals in the city

While the Supreme Court may have directed colleges to put a psychiatrist on their payroll to tackle ragging, the colleges in the city will have a hard time finding these trained professionals, as the educational institutions outnumber the psychiatrists.

According to the Bombay Psychiatric Society, there are about 400 practising psychiatrists in the city, including those who are currently undergoing training. The number of the general colleges in the city alone is more than 400.

Besides this, all colleges may not be even able to afford a permanent psychiatrist. "No school or college will be able to afford a psychiatrist. At the most they could engage counsellors referred by the psychiatrists. These counsellors are trained to pick up problems and if required, they could refer the student to the psychiatrist," said Dr Yusuf Matheswala who offers counselling services to several city schools.

Dr E Mohan Das, president of the Indian Psychiatric Society, wondered, "The idea of having psychiatrists is good, but how will they go about it? The country has approximately 4,000 psychiatrists. On an average, there are three to four psychiatrists per one lakh people. Kerala has a higher average of four to seven psychiatrists for every one lakh of the populace. How is it possible to have psychiatrists in every college? There are not even enough clinical psychologists in the country," he explained.

"Moreover, most of the psychiatrists are concentrated in the urban areas," he added.

Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, who does not agree with the SC's directive, said, "This is practically impossible to implement. The court should revisit its judgement. You can't start a de-addiction centre and there is no connection between alcoholism and ragging. Counselling, however, is a must in every college."

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