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Include mental health in educational curriculum

Speakers tell at roundtable

Staff Correspondent
Speakers at a roundtable yesterday said rapid breaking up of joint families. decline of lineage ties and restlessness of modern lifestyle are primarily responsible for mental disorder of people in the society.
The roundtable was organised by the Welfare Society for Mental Health and Rehabilitation (WSMHR) in association with the National Forum of Organisations Working with the Disabled (NFOWD) and the ActionAid Bangladesh at the National Press Club in the city to mark the 16th World Mental Health Day.
This year the theme of the day was 'Making mental health a global priority: Scaling up services through citizens' advocacy and action'.
ActionAid Country Director
Farah Kabir was in the chair while Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, director of social welfare department was the chief guest at the roundtable.
Speakers at the roundtable demanded cancellation of Lunatic Act 1912 which was formulated on the principle of "mad and bad should be out of the society."
They called for introducing mental health education in the curriculum from primary to university level to make people aware of mental illness.
WSMHR General Secretary Badrul Mannan in his keynote paper said apart from neurological disorders, any prolonged disease and social and family problems can cause mental disorder.
Whatever the cause may be, the mental patients do not receive due priority, he added, saying a good
number of mental patients can go back to normal life contributing to national development instead of becoming a burden for the nation if they can receive proper treatment from their families and trained physicians and nurses.
He said the theme of the day as set by the UN has stressed three points: right to sound mental health, developing quality mental heath service and Increasing advocacy and action.
Associate Professor Salahuddin Kawsar Biplob of psychology department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University said single family or nuclear family are on the rise and joint families are breaking up in the country leaving elderly people and children vulnerable to mental disease as they feel very insecure.
"Among other steps to address
the issue we should encourage people to live in joint families leaving present trend of prodigal lifestyle leading to live in single family," he added.
He said in western countries incidents of committing suicide are increasing rapidly as their family bondage is getting weaker due to breaking up of joint family.
According to a survey conducted on the people above IB years during a period between 2003 and 2005, IG.i percent people of the country have mental illness in different degrees.
Prof Nazimuddaulah Chowdhury, psychiatric, Prof Dr Mahmudur Rahman of medical psychology department at Dhaka University, Rabeya Sultana of ActionAid and NFOWD General Secretary Zawaherul Islam Mamun also spoke on the occasion.