From Mayukh Goswami
Mangaldai: Necessary support from the families and also from the society is key to keep the mentally ill persons stable in today’s hour of crisis arising due to the outbreak of the second wave of Covid 19 as observed by Psychiatrist. ” Most of the mentally ill persons need continuous care and support from their families . If they fail to get the necessary support from their families be it in normal time or in this crucial period , their mental state may not remain stable to lead a normal life , observed Dr Prashanta Kalita, a Psychiatrist of Mangaldai Civil Hospital.
“I am concerned about the family members of such mentally ill persons who have also become vulnerable to the repeated Covid induced situations since majority of them are from the economically and socially weaker sections”, said Dr Kalita. He has felt that these mentally ill patients , sixty / seventy percent of whom are outdoor patients of the hospitals may suffer in their treatments as the prevailing Covid situation may lead to temporary closure of the outdoor services of the Psychiatric department in government run hospitals including medical college and hospitals as experienced in the first wave.
” In such situation tele medicine may be an option to reach out for consultation. But in this mechanism doctors are allowed to prescribe only a few compositions of common psychiatric drugs. Moreover mostof the families of the patients either not aware of it or unable to afford a smart phone to avail it .” , observed Dr Kalita. He advised the family members of the mentally ills to procure the required medicines at least for next couple of months so that it could be continued without fail. He also stressed the need of proper vigil over the serious patients suffering from schizophrenia disorder who used to move in public places thereby exposing themselves to infections of the deadly virus. Dr Kalita also observed that this pandemic situation has led to manifold mental health issues including fear psychosis, anxiety , depression , additction , isomnia etc and if not properly handled the result may be fatal . “I have come across people from different corners of the society from Neuro Surgeon of a medical college to pretty traders , meritorious students and daily wage earners who are psychologically affected in the wake of Covid induced situation. I advise them not to get panick , get away from the exaggerated news on Covid , remain positive and stick to the basic health protocols. There is high recovery rate in comparison to mortality.”, Dr Kalita said.
