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National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences

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About

In 2008, a reality show contestant, Shinjini Sen, after getting reprimanded by the TV show judges, temporarily lost her voice, and physical mobility. It was alleged by the media that the television show judges’ behaviour caused such disability. To resolve her case, she was flown from Kolkata to Bangalore’s NIMHANS to be treated for a neurobiological condition.

The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences is a medical institution in Bangalore, India. NIMHANS is the apex centre for mental health and neuroscience education in the country. It is an Institute of National Importance operates autonomously under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. NIMHANS is ranked 4th best medical institute in India, in the current National Institutional Ranking Framework.

National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences
National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences

History

Campus

Mental Health Outreach

Controversies

History

In 1925, the Government of Mysore rechristened the asylum as the Mental Hospital. The Mysore Government Mental Hospital became the first institute in India for postgraduate training in psychiatry.

The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) was the result of the amalgamation of the erstwhile State Mental Hospital and the All India Institute of Mental Health (AIIMH) established by the Government of India in 1954.

In March 2017, the Government of India passed the Mental Healthcare Bill 2016, which also proposes to set up NIMHANS-like institutions across the nation.

Campus

NIMHANS has five campuses in the city, spread over an area of 174 acres of urban establishments, which includes 30 acres of an under-construction Bangalore North campus. The ‘Community Mental Health Center’ is located in the Sakalawara area on Bannerghatta Road. The ‘NIMHANS Centre for Well Being’ is situated in BTM Layout. A state-of-the-art convention centre located in the main campus frequently hosts international conferences, seminars, trade shows, expositions, and media events.

Mental Health Outreach

NIMHANS experts criticized a report on mental health in India published by the World Health Organization. In July 2013, TOI reported that NIMHANS was collaborating with the Central Bureau of Investigation to train its staff with interrogation techniques. In 2012, the central government approached NIMHANS to suppress anti-nuclear protests in regard to building of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

However, professor B N Gangadhar, then medical superintendent, told the press, “We can say at this juncture that she could be suffering from depression. Depression does not lead to permanent loss of speech or physical disability. We are diagnosing why that has happened. There could be complex neurological factors leading to such conditions.”

Controversies

Although initially, the institution was able to block the release of the film on regular interval, the filmmaker will be able to launch his film without renaming it, once the Censor Board and KFCC approved the name in its second round. Where, in the report, it always alleges that 36% of Indians suffer from depression. The highest among all the countries and the NIMHANS faculty state that the incidence of the depression is much lower due to a stronger social support system and family structure.

“Above mentioned information taken from Wikipedia”