The Department of Mental Health Education of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) conducted the first ‘Stories against Stigma: Walking tour of NIMHANS’ of this year for the public on Saturday.
The objective was to remove the stigma associated with mental health institutions and the idea that they are dark, dingy places where patients, often violent, are locked in dark rooms and administered shock treatment and more.
K.S. Meena, additional professor in the department, said the initiative had received an overwhelming response from the public in the last two years. “Following the overwhelming response, we now plan to conduct the tour once in three months,” she said.
The three-hour tour covered the history of NIMHANS along with a visit to 15 departments with a faculty from each department briefing the 26 visitors from various backgrounds about their work.
The participants got an opportunity to visit the NIMHANS Heritage Museum, Psychiatry Department and Wards, Yoga Centre, Neuro-imaging Lab, Psychiatric Emergency Unit, Behavioural Medicine Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit and Family Therapy Unit. They were also shown a video demonstrating the procedure of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), commonly known as shock treatment, to clear misconceptions.
The tour included a visit to the ROSes (Recovery Oriented Services) cafe, which is run exclusively by persons recovering from mental illness, at NIMHANS.
