40 docs attend CME on psychiatrist role in pandemic

Chandigarh: As many as 40 doctors attended a CME on ‘Role of psychiatrist in Covid pandemic’ at Faith Hospital here on Thursday. The CME was organized in association of National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA), Chandigarh.

Addressing CME, Dr. Damanjit Kaur, senior psychiatrist said that Covid pandemic has led to depression, anxiety and increased use of drugs like alcohol, tobacco etc. among people. The people are feeling hopeless and helpless and ultimately depressed.
She said that the role of psychiatrist has gained a lot of importance amidst pandemic especially among school going age groups as they are going through tough times because of online schooling.

Students don’t have physical integration with people, especially their peers. Due to internet exposure children are getting trapped into cyber bullying, cybercrime etc. Screens time has increased which has affected the mental and physical health of the students. Nobody can have an actual School-like infrastructure at home which affects a lot in understanding concepts instead of mugging them up, she maintained.

She said, according to the data, women are about twice as likely as men to develop major depression. A recent study found that the proportion of women attending psychiatric emergencies in Covid induced lockdown has increased due to personal issues and workload. There are also reports of domestic violence increase between couples and increased workload on women, she remarked.

Among others, Dr. RP Gaba a Dhanwantry awardee and patron of NIMA , Dr GD Mehta,  Dr Meenu Gandhi and Dr Rajesh Tayal , the president, general secretary and treasurer of NIMA respectively along with Dr Amit Bansal founder director of Faith Hospital were also presented during occasion.

During the occasion, the 2-min silence was observed to honour the Covid warriors who lost their lives saving the society at large.