Clinical psychologist from Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (CIHSR), Imlibenla Mongro said that mental health issues are frowned upon in our society adding that the “general attitude towards mental illness is ridiculous.” Talking about Nagaland in particular, she said youngsters found no help speaking to their parents about issues that vex them as they (parents) often draw comparisons with their bygone era and downplay these issues.
Speaking as one of the resource persons at the Workshop on Mental Health for NGOs at Development Association of Nagaland Training Centre, Carmel Higher Secondary School campus, she added that no one was immune to mental illness. “One in five of us will experience a serious problem with our mental well-being at some point in our lives,” she added.
As a result of mental illness and the failure to address it, one person commits suicide in India every hour, she added.
Speaking about the overall scenario in India, Imlibenla stated that there was also a paucity of manpower to treat mental illness as there are less than 2000 clinical psychologists in India and 3000 to 5000 psychiatrists in India.
At a later session, psychiatric nurse from Burans project, Helen Morgan from New Zealand outlined the emotional tensions and conditions that could progress into mental conditions. She pointed out that people in Nagaland do not traditionally talk openly about issues that they face and emphasized that it was important that people in the state open up about various issues if they want to maintain good mental health.
Earlier in the day, Dr Ramesh Rohan in a short introductory note said rapid revolution of technology with mounting pressure from different spheres of life has brought with it a greater degree of stress and mental pressure, and as such, no one was immune to mental illness.
The last two sessions of the workshop was dedicated to break the ice and how to counsel. The programme was chaired by Dr Ramesh Rohan and the invocation was pronounced by assistant director, Ayush, Dr Bendangtula. Around 50 participants attended the workshop.
The workshop was organized by Arukah Network, Northeast Cluster which consists of 17 NGOs from four states in the Northeast, namely; Nagaland, Assam, Manipur and Mizoram.