Noida: Health dept holds mental health camp at Bhangel CHC

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar health department organised a mental health camp at the community health centre (CHC) in Noida’s Bhangel on Wednesday and examined 35 patients from the neighbouring areas

Noida:

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The Gautam Budh Nagar health department organised a mental health camp at the community health centre (CHC) in Noida’s Bhangel on Wednesday and examined 35 patients from the neighbouring areas.

A specialised team of doctors and psychiatrists examined the patients and gave them free medicines.

A number of people suffered stress and mental health issues and the camp is important for them, according to Bhangel CHC medical superintendent Dr Yatendra Singh. “People are stressed due to financial problems, family issues and personal issues. People suffer from anxiety and insomnia. On the direction of the Uttar Pradesh health department, we organised a health camp where physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists provided overall treatment and counselling, and prescribed medicines to the patients,” Singh said.

The health department started preparations for this camp a week ago. “We had informed the Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery and ASHA workers to visit the neighbouring areas and inform people about the camp,” he said.

According to the doctors, lack of sleep, shivering in hands and legs, unnecessarily doubting people, unwanted fear, thinking about the same thing repeatedly, mobile phone addiction, etc. could be a sign of mental issues. “At times, people also fear supernatural elements. It is also a mental health issue,” Singh added.

Some of the patients said they lost jobs and started suffering from insomnia, headache and panic attacks.

Amit Kumar, a resident of Salarpur village, said he had lost his job during the lockdown and returned to his hometown in Raebareli in April 2020. “I was jobless for about six months and developed symptoms of insomnia. I always wondered how to feed my family. I recently found a job at a private company in Noida. I had gone to the mental camp,” Kumar said.

Satvinder Singh, a resident of Noida Sector 101, said he works at a mobile phone company. “I started feeling stressed following the Covid-19 lockdown. There is always a sense of insecurity that if I go outside, I may get infected. I have been suffering from insomnia for a few months,” he said.

Dr NK Sharma, president of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Noida chapter, said there is a need for more mental health camps. “We need to create awareness about mental health issues among the people. If people sneeze or suffer from fever, they suspect they have Covid-19 infection. They overthink, which leads to mental health issues. Many people lost jobs and are stressed. Private and government hospitals should organise similar camps and help people get out of this situation,” Sharma said.

The CHC had also organised a parallel camp for the general Outpatient Department (OPD) where some 275 patients were treated.