📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Antonio Tintori
Health
Psychiatry Conference in Chhattisgarh Highlights Stigma and Doctor Shortage
✍️ The Times of India
🗓 27 Sep 2026, 02:34 AM
👁 12
A state‑level psychiatry meet in Chhattisgarh identified persistent stigma and a shortage of mental‑health professionals, urging greater public awareness and the adoption of newer treatment approaches.
The state health department, together with leading mental‑health specialists, convened a psychiatry conference in Chhattisgarh to review the current challenges facing mental‑health care. Participants included psychiatrists, psychologists and policy makers who examined the prevailing attitudes toward mental illness.
Experts at the meeting highlighted that deep‑rooted social stigma continues to deter individuals from seeking help, while a chronic shortage of qualified psychiatrists restricts service availability across the state. The lack of professionals, they said, forces many patients to travel long distances or rely on overburdened general physicians.
To address these gaps, the panel called for sustained public‑awareness campaigns, school‑based mental‑health education and the integration of newer treatment modalities such as telepsychiatry and evidence‑based psychotherapy. They urged the state government to allocate additional resources for training more mental‑health doctors and to streamline regulatory approvals for innovative therapies.
The conference concluded with a consensus that coordinated action between health authorities, NGOs and community leaders is essential to reduce stigma and expand access to quality mental‑health services in Chhattisgarh.
Experts at the meeting highlighted that deep‑rooted social stigma continues to deter individuals from seeking help, while a chronic shortage of qualified psychiatrists restricts service availability across the state. The lack of professionals, they said, forces many patients to travel long distances or rely on overburdened general physicians.
To address these gaps, the panel called for sustained public‑awareness campaigns, school‑based mental‑health education and the integration of newer treatment modalities such as telepsychiatry and evidence‑based psychotherapy. They urged the state government to allocate additional resources for training more mental‑health doctors and to streamline regulatory approvals for innovative therapies.
The conference concluded with a consensus that coordinated action between health authorities, NGOs and community leaders is essential to reduce stigma and expand access to quality mental‑health services in Chhattisgarh.