29 September 2010
Chennai, India
Townsfolk will soon be able to avail mental health services closer home. The Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) is set to tour the districts in mobile vans. Four taluks in Pudukottai district will be the first point of halt when the programme takes off in a couple of months, said Dr R Thara, director of SCARF.
NGOs and community workers will be part of the initiative, and after preliminary screening, patients will be brought to the city for treatment, Dr Thara added.
Speaking at a conference to announce the opening of ‘Frame of Mind’, a three-day film festival on mental health, Thara said people in local communities were left to deal with various mental issues posttsunami. Rural people are less inhibited when it comes to accepting mental illness compared to urbanites, she said.
Experts said the challenge for professionals in dealing with it lay in creating the right environment. ‘Frames of mind’ will feature ‘Vadakku Nokki Yanthram’, ‘Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara’, ‘Saaransh’, ‘Achchamundu Achchamundu’ and ‘Shutter Island’. The film festival to be held at the South Indian Film Chamber begins at 9am on October 1.
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