Govt issues mental health guidelines during pandemic

Given the rising mental health concerns due to the ongoing pandemic, the Union Health Ministry issued guidelines on 'Managing Mental Illness In Hospital Setting During The Pandemic. The guidelines have suggested that there are at least three groups affected by mental health concerns during this pandemic.

New Delhi: Emphasising that mental health care is very much essential during the Covid19 pandemic, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday released a mental health care guidelines for medical officers and mental health professionals.

The Ministry in its guidelines has highlighted that worries related to restrictions of lifestyle, issues related to special populations including children and adolescents, job losses and uncertainty about future, increase in domestic violence and child abuse have been also been reported during the ongoing pandemic situation.

The guidelines have suggested that there are at least three groups affected by mental health concerns during this pandemic.

Patients with Covid19 infections may develop mental health problems. Research suggests that depression and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder could be extremely high.

The guidelines have highlighted that pre-existent patients may experience a recurrence or worsening of their symptoms or develop additional psychiatric symptoms during the pandemic. It further said that there are mental health concerns faced by the general public.

"A wide variety of psychiatric symptoms including anxiety, worries, non-specific psychological distress, depression, stress symptoms, insomnia, hallucination, paranoid and suicidal ideations have been notes during the pandemic," the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry said.

The Health Ministry while preparing the guidelines has also found that there was difficulty in isolating and quarantining patients with active symptoms of mania and acute psychosis, non-cooperation from patients. "On many occasions, a homeless person often fails to provide proper history and no reliable informants would be available in most cases.

The health ministry through its guidelines which was prepared in collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience has suggested that a nodal officer should be nominated and assigned the task of reviewing these guidelines periodically, update and share then with mental health professionals working in mental health establishment as well as other healthcare establishments who cater to those with mental health issues.

The guidelines have suggested that a hotline facility can be established between an MHE and a nearby Covid designated hospital to facilitate easy transfer across facilities.

It also suggested that all Covid19 treatment facilities should have a designated mental health support network for its personnel.