The Hindu : Karnataka News : NIMHANS to train 26,000 volunteers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

NIMHANS to train 26,000 volunteers

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JAN. 6. The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) will train 26,000 volunteers to work in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in Tamil Nadu to help the tsunami survivors overcome the trauma suffered by them. Counsellors from NIMHANS will train the volunteers.

Destruction

Since the destruction in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was severe with 30 of the 38 islands affected, it is not possible to provide psychiatric help to all those who need it without a large number of trained volunteers, the NIMHANS Vice-Chancellor and Director, D. Nagaraja, said here on Thursday.

Attention

"It is not just the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTDS) which usually shows up in the victims much later but other psychological disorders such as acute shock and depression which need immediate attention,'' he said.

Teams

Three teams from NIMHANS had reached Port Blair and have started identifying representatives of voluntary agencies working there who can be trained, Dr. Nagaraja said.

First to help

NIMHANS was the first to provide psychiatric help and direct care to victims of other calamities such as the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, the Orissa cyclone and the earthquakes in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

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