Hyderabad: Taking a serious view of the situations arising out of toddy addicts showing withdrawal symptoms and farmers committing suicide, the state government has started help centres in Mahbubnagar, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts to provide necessary support to those in distress.
Four more centres would be started soon. Three such centres have been earmarked for Hyderabad but they are yet to start even as patients with toddy withdrawal symptoms are coming in increasingly to the Erragadda Institute of Mental Health.
Dr Ashok Reddy, deputy superintendent of IMH, said, “These centres would take care of such people. In places where their numbers are high, psychiatrists too have been provided.”
The Telangana Psychiatrists’ Association is sending its members to all districts to deal with cases of farmer suicides. A senior psychiatrist said on condition of anonymity, “We are forming groups and going down to village level to assess the situation. There is no point in opening a centre and waiting for the distressed to come in. Hence, an assessment is being done at the village level and then those who need treatment are being directed to the centre, where they will get medicines and counselling.”
There is need for a lot of clinical psychologists as the treatment will not be a one-time effort. These people would require regular counselling sessions to cope with the situation, that will eventually help them to get over with the problem, he said.
