“The tragedy in psychiatry is that the concept, practice and research in rehabilitation, the last leg of treatment, is almost absent,” Sarada Menon, founder of Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) said.
After receiving the Mother Teresa Memorial Award 2016 for her outstanding contribution to mental health and rehabilitation services, she said, though treatment may help the patients to a great extent, they have nearly no motivation to lead a normal life if there is no rehabilitation.
“Do you know someone can pass MBBS course without knowing anything about psychiatry? The Indian Psychiatric Society has been fighting with the Medical Council of India to include this subject in the medical curriculum,” Ms. Menon added.
She recalled the time when she underwent training for two years in the Institute of Mental Health in the 1940s and there were hardly any facilities and staff. “Then, there was just one nurse, one drug for cure and 150 patients to be treated. Then when I joined the hospital, there were over 1,000 patients and poor accomodation, food and facilities,” she said. Removal of stigma is extremely important in mental health. “There was a time when a father would come and hand over the marriage invite of his daughter but he would specifically ask me not to come,” she added.
M.S. Swaminathan, Emeritus Chairman and Chief Mentor of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, who presented the award said her work is incomparable and deserves recognition.
