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Professional
Psychiatrist
Modern life is full of
pressures. There is the constant need to get ahead, to earn
more and to live up to expectations of others. Urbanisation
and increasing pace of life take their own toll. There is
stress at every corner. While most people are able to deal
with the situation, in others it takes the form of an
illness. Trained professionals are required to deal with both
minor and major ailments.
Psychiatry is the branch of medicine concerned with the study
and treatment of mental illness. It has two major branches:
the first is psychotherapy, the application of psychological
techniques to the treatment of mental illnesses. This branch
uses non-drug therapies and will not use physical techniques
such as drugs or surgery. Tools of psychoanalysis are used
and the psychologist will try to probe into the psyche of a
person by helping him to open up.
The second branch is psychiatry, where medical therapies are
used and the attack is made on the organic source of the
disease. The physical and behavioural symptoms are diagnosed.
Drugs and other means may be used for treatment. A
psychiatrist has to be a doctor. One should do MS in
psychiatry after the MBBS to become one. Thus, one can get
into the profession either from the arts stream or the
science stream. A person wanting to make a career in this
line must decide which area he wants to get into.
Career paths
For the first, the career path will be doing BA with
psychology, leading to MA in psychology, with training in
clinical psychology. One can start working in a hospital
after doing the course. But that is not all. New avenues are
opening up. The first is counselling. Many schools employ
counsellors these days, who provide educational counselling
and deal with personal problems as well. A diploma in
counselling is offered by the NCERT. The second avenue for
growth is in industry. As the area of human resources has
been growing, so is the demand for trained people who can
understand and deal with people. Industries recognise that
the human resource is very valuable and must be managed well.
A diploma or degree in personnel management will help if one
plans to go in industry. Finally, one can work in social
orgnaisations providing help to people.
Though the profession is gaining in importance, university
departments have not kept pace. "We are not accountable, so
we take it easy. But we keep telling students to make efforts
on their own and many of them are able to find good jobs in
industry", says a professor in the Panjab University.
Students of psychology must, therefore, be aware of the
changing trends and keep themselves abreast of requirements
in industry and other sectors. Since university education is
too theoretical and the teachers admit that they have not
kept pace with trends, students will have to keep track of
the changes by themselves.
The second career path is to become a qualified psychiatrist.
This means that you must be a doctor and do your MS in
psychiatry after your MBBS. The MD usually takes three years
and a person has to write a thesis on a particular topic
under the guidance of a supervisor. One could also do a
Diploma in Psychiatric medicine (DPM) from a recognised
institute to become a qualified psychiatrist. This takes two
years and a thesis does not have to be written. Some of the
important institutes are the national Institute of Mental
Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore and the
Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi. One can study
psychiatry at the important medical colleges such as the
AIIMS, New Delhi, the PGI Chandigarh, and other medical
colleges all over the country.
There is of course, an integral relationship between both the
streams: most hospitals have both clinical psychologists and
psychiatrists on their teams. This is because mental disease
may be caused by negative thoughts or changes in the brain's
biochemistry. There are thus two distinct career paths
leading to the career. One can be an arts student and study
psychology or one can join the scineces stream and take the
medical route.
Scope
Increasing tension and stress in modern life is resulting in
a lot of pressure on the mind. High pressure jobs take their
toll, too. According to Dr Savita Malhotra of the PGI,
Chandigarh, about 20 per cent of the population goes through
a period of depression at least once. This is usually dealt
with by the individual and does not last. In about 1 per cent
of the cases, it results in mental illness.
The career of a psychiatrist is becoming important because of
the social cost arising from mental problems. In industry, it
could be absenteeism and alcoholism. Psychiatrists may also
be called upon to deal with problems related to children and
in some cases, solve adjustment problems in marriages. In
extreme cases, a person may acquire suicidal tendencies. As
people are realising the social costs arising from such
illnesses, the importance of the psychiatrist will
undoubteldy increase.
Contrary to popular belief, even young children suffer from
such problems. Child psychology is becoming a separate
discipline now. Again, during the age of 13 to 18 years, an
individual faces a period of great changes and emotional
turmoil. This is usually a passing phase and 80 per cent of
the people are able to get over it without major
complications. The others may develop problems that may be a
cause of concern later in life. Add to this the cultural
changes taking place and the increasing pace of life and we
find that the incidence of mental problems is increasing in
the country. In some cases, psychiatrists have helped in
fighting crime by mapping the criminal mind.
This gives a lot of scope of growth for anyone in the
profession. However, though awareness is growing, jobs are
limited to hospitals. Even here, the post of psychiatrist
does not exist upto the district level. Only at the
State-level institutes are psychiatrists employed. One could
go in for teaching, but again, opportunities are not really
too many. Finally, one can open a private practice. This may
flourish in a city, but in towns one will have to get over
the social stigma attached to visiting a psychiatrist. This
situation could change in years to come.
At present, there are about 2,000 working psychiatrists in
India, with an average of one for every 5 lakh people. Demand
for psychiatrists is rising, but is not spectacular. A person
choosing this career should be prepared for roughing it out
in government hospitals, at least for some time. The concept
of visiting a psychiatrist is still at its infancy stage in
India, though in developed countries things are different. As
the society is being increasingly Westernised, there are
indications that the profession will catch up here as well.
This augurs well for a trained professional in mental health.
Social organisations
Some social organisations are providing helplines for people
who may be disturbed. A person may hesitate in approaching a
"shrink", as psychiatrists are commonly known as. There is a
social stigma attached to it. To get over this, social
organisations are establishing telephone counselling cells in
some cities. Callers can discuss their problems in the
anonymity of the telephone. Yuvsatta, which has such a
helpline called DOST in Chandigarh, says that personal,
sexual and drug-related problems are common. The telephone
line is answered by qualified doctors, who have voluntarily
taken particular days of the week to answer the calls. Advice
is given on the telephone and in cases requiring treatment,
the person may be called personally. Cases of drug abuse is
handled by the drug rehabilitation centre run by the
organisation. Telephone services have been started in Delhi
as well.
A trained psychologist can provide such a service or get
attached to a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) for this.
These jobs are, however, not highly paid, The work is done on
a voluntary basis. These organisations, however, fulfil an
important role as they provide a helping hand to people who
do not know where to go for help. "We get calls that refer to
a wide range of problems, cutting across age barriers. Many
people do not know how to deal with pressures on them", says
Dr Amandeep Singh, who handles calls once a week.
A growing profession
A person going in for a career in mental health should be
patient and have the intuition to understand people. One of
the most important attribute of the job is the ability to
listen. A counsellor must not jump to conclusions or give
value judgements. A genuine desire to help others will result
in success. A psychologist has to sit through hours of
counselling and help get rid of stress, trauma and other
anxieties.
The profession is growing slowly and new applications are
opening up. Of course there is a long way to go before it
gets as much importance in the developed nations. Gradually,
things are changing. University departments have to accept
the challenge and make their orientation more towards the
needs of the real world. Medical professionals, on the other
hand, can be absorbed in hospitals or take up teaching
assignments in medical colleges.
Careers can undoubtedly be made in the field of psychology.
The human mind is still a mystery and has a lot of scope. A
lot of research is being undertaken to undestand how it
works. In India it is still nascent but with growing
awareness, the social stigma may vanish and seeking the help
of a psychiatrist may not be considered as something
negative. In the larger cities, people are slowly accepting
that mental tensions are as natural as medical ailments. A
qualified professionals is thus expected to be in great
demand in times to come.
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