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THINK Positive psychiatry, according to him,
POSITIVE is not merely the absence of illness, and
PSYCHIATRY the role of the psychiatrist must in-
clude assessing the patient's strengths.
One of the biggest challenges A different approach
of dealing with mental illness This approach has several conse-
is the fear and stigma asso- Mental health remains a poorly under- quences. First, it affects the entire
ciated with seeing a psychia- stood concept in the field of medicine healthcare system, as other healthcare
trist. But this need not be the case, says in India. What's needed, then, is an providers, such as nurses, social work-
Dilip V. Jeste, Associate Dean for approach with the patient's well-being ers and psychologists, are also in-
Healthy Ageing, and distinguished Pro- at its centre and one which makes it volved, playing a key role in providing
fessor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences easier for patients to seek treatment. care and delivering the right set of in-
at the University of California, San Di- terventions that enhance these posi-
ego, US. As a global thought leader in Mental health professionals (including tive traits. "There are not enough cli-
the field of psychiatry, Jeste advocates psychiatrists, psychologists, clinicians nicians, and the care has to come from
a clinical approach, called "positive and researchers) specialize in other caregivers," says Jeste.
psychiatry", which is much less intimi- behaviour modification through a com-
dating for people. bination of medication, psychotherapy Second, an emphasis on psychosocial
and environmental changes. traits necessitates different kinds of
Jeste was in Mumbai in January to de- interventions compared to conven-
liver the keynote address at a confer- "When we are dealing with someone tional drug therapy. One such interven-
ence organized by the Dr NS Vahia who is depressed, bipolar or schizo- tion could consist of writing letters of
Foundation, a non-profit organization phrenic, we are trying to change that gratitude to persons who have helped,
working in the field of neuropsychiatry. behaviour. Positive behavioural change or listing three things that one is grate-
is the hardest thing to achieve when a ful for at the end of the day (or the
Vihang Vahia, the organizer of the con- person is thinking and feeling suicidal," week), in order to improve levels of
ference and a consultant psychiatrist at adds Jeste. optimism and well-being.
the Breach Candy and Lilavati Hospi-
tals in Mumbai, says, "Traditionally, Most of the time, psychiatrists simply Lisa Eyler, an assistant professor in the
clinicians are trained to explore 'what ask for the main symptoms and pre- department of psychiatry at the Uni-
is wrong with you'. We then work on scribe medication; they do not assess versity of California, San Diego, who
genetic-biochemical and psychosocial the patient's strengths. But "numerous was also at the conference, recently
probabilities that might have contrib- studies have shown that these conducted a study where healthy older
uted to the emergence of symptoms." strengths, also known as positive psy- people were given drama lessons and
chosocial traits-such as resilience, op- taught how to act to enhance their
He adds, "Jeste's contention is that timism, wisdom and social engage- levels of compassion and empathy.
every ill person has several strengths ment-are associated with better
that contribute to healthy life, before health, recovery and greater longev- "Empathy and compassion, along with
the onset of symptoms. These factors ity. So we need interventions to in- resilience and optimism, are positive
need to be stressed in helping the per- crease these factors to improve health psychological traits, which I think help
son get over an illness and get back to and well-being," says Jeste. people to have greater well-being, es-
the pre-illness state of mind." pecially as they grow older. We have
been interested in the types of inter-
ventions related to empathy and com-
passion," says Eyler. While the results
of the study are still awaited, the na-
ture of the study itself illustrates a new
approach to psychiatry. (Source: Mint)
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