Month: May 2019

De-criminalisation of suicide attempts in India(Deletion of Section 309) Home Articles Section 309 gone..this de-criminalizes suicide attempts in India.. a brave and decisive move but what are the different facets of mental illness? I am a Consultant Psychiatrist and I have been working with serious mental illness, high risk and suicidality on a daily basis for more than 15 years.. reading this news evoked many thoughts.. There is hope and optimism for those afflicted by mental illness in India.This appears to be a progressive step towards understanding the mental health of those driven to extreme measures like suicide attempts in my home country, with its high suicide rates and stigma/ignorance around mental illness ; a society that has traditionally largely depended on community cohesion, goodwill and the voluntary sector for the management of its mentally ill.. This move is also accompanied by a signboard of caution. In a geographically massive, culturally diverse and overpopulated country, this will hopefully go hand-in-hand with: 1. Taking active measures to...

Science and Art : Can the twain meet? Home Articles Thanks for reading my first blog on this site. I thought this would be an apt question to start with as my thoughts around this have been the guiding principles of my professional and personal life all along and more recently, has inspired this website. The eternal question! Science and Creative art. Two categorical entities? Or polar dimensions on a continuum? One believes in logic.Proving and strengthening a theory. Order and method. Evidence.Results. The other thrives on free expression.Subjective expansion. Hues on a colour palate. Notes to a tune. Interpretation. But they also have a lot in common.Observation. Imagination. Innovation. Dedication. The journey? Exciting at times. Relaxing at others. Enjoyable. Frustrating. But ultimately.... satisfying. Empowering. Us humans are plastic creatures. With malleable, adaptable brains. That is, if we let ourselves. Because humans are creatures of habit too.Habits make the brain hard-wired.Our comfort zones and our ‘safe havens’ are more deeply entrenched in our minds that we consciously realise....

That floating feeling. ??,!!,*@ or ...... Home Articles This morning, I woke up with a funny sense of ....well, floating.Floating on the sea, to be precise! This got me thinking on the subject of floating... the context and connotations... Many of us would have experienced this at one point or the other ... Our state of mind and circumstances at the time would perhaps be the reason. Just ‘floating along’ ? A sense of not having any moorings? Or of having broken free from them? Floating may give the sense of stasis. Of taking a few deep breaths. Of pausing in a fast-paced world. Of being in the moment. Liberating. Or scary? Is it important or useful to experience this floating feeling ? Floating can make the direction of travel ambiguous. This can be unsettling. Or does it feel exciting? And the emotions ‘floating' can churn up? A few immediately spring to mind..Peace. Oneness with nature. Unknown dangers or fears lurking in the depths . And...

A HEALTHY MIND SUPPORTS A HEALTHY BODY OPTIMALLY Talk to your kids about the COVID-­19 epidemic Perspectives from a senior Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Home Articles In any situation that causes fears, anxieties and panic, the best thing we can do for our kids is helping them understand, manage the barrage of information and withstand the urge to panic. This is not an easy task when we are facing widespread chaos and the WHO ‘s recent declaration that COVID-­19 is officially a pandemic . It has already hit the world’s largest economy badly , many parts of Europe are heading towards lockdown and few places in India as well as Bengaluru. No matter how old our kids might be, our anxieties and fears rub off on them and can potentially create a difficult scenario, especially in the context of impending exams and exam stress. Before we talk to our kids about the virus spread ( which is of course crucial ), it is imperative that...