by Dr Amit Chakraborty -

Popular Book on Mental Health

maner asukh

Dr Amit Chakraborty’s recent book on Mental Health published by
_Parul Prokashani, Kolkata. The topics included are Anxiety, Tension,
Depression, Delusion, Mental Retardation, Autism, Hyperactive
problems, Mental problems in childhood, adolescence, Middle Age and
Old Age, Loneliness, Sleep Disorder, Dreams and so on

by Dr Amit Chakraborty -

Seminar on Art-Therapy: Report

A day-long seminar-cum-workshop on “Art for Healing” was organized on 28th February at the reception hall of DANA, JodhpurPark, Kolkata, India. Dr. Debasis Bhattacharya was the key anchor who also spoke on the ongoing project on Art-Therapy at DANA. He was supported by Harit Basu(artist) and Subhra Banerjee Pal (psychologist) who have actually been handling the project. They cited specific cases of adult patients who are under psychiatric intervention and have attended 6 or more sessions of Art-Therapy. Amongst other speakers, Trina Lahiri shared her experience of working with juvenile cancer patients from rural Bengal who were exposed to cartoons and humour for fighting pain and low mood. Minakshi Chaudhuri from Centre for Care of Tortured Victims (CCTV) mentioned about a Treatment & Rehabilitation Programme at a Shelter Home for Girls in September 2010 organized by CORE / Human to Humane Transcultural Centre for  Trauma & Torture, based atImphal, Manipur.

 

Arayee Day presented a short paper by Vrishali Purandare who narrated her experience of working with art at the de-addiction centre in Central India. Blaise Joseph spoke on a recent

6-day Art-Workshop organized for 25 inmates of Tihar Jail. He showed the various art work produced at the workshop with the help of newspaper cuttings. Rajsekhar Aich presented his recent study of mental health and motive between painters and non-painters.

 

The post lunch session focused on the interaction on the need for creating a platform for psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, visual artists and social workers who are interested to employ visual art for healing patients suffering from both physical and mental disorders.

Dr Amit ChakrabortyIMG_0269IMG_0278IMG_0265

 

 

 

 

by Dr Amit Chakraborty -

Appeal to all Art-Therapists and Professional who are convinced about the Therapeutic Effect of Visual Art

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 Dear All                                                                                                                                 

 I along with some of our psychologist & artist friends  have started an Art-Therapy unit where counseling of selected adult psychiatrist patients have been facilitated through visual art-works. Beyond the aesthetic judgment,  here the Visual-language  is used to enhance  the depth of communication. We believe that it has a special importance in our multi-linguistic country .We like to be connected with like-minded persons to enrich our views.  

We also need to strengthen our forum which has not yet achieved due place in our therapeutic approach.

Dr Debasis Bhattacharya (drdebasis@yahoo.com)

 

by Dr Amit Chakraborty -

Special Lecture on Mindfulness

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DANA organised a special lecture by Ms Mousumi Singh from Australia on

“Investigation into the Relationship between Mindfulness and Problem-solving Training in Adults with Major Mental Illness”. 

 

Excerpts:

•Mindfulness is conceptualized as involving two key components: “(1) intentional regulation of attention to and awareness of the present moment, and (2) nonjudgmental acceptance of the ongoing flow of sensations, thoughts, and/or emotional states”
•Mindfulness-based intervention strategies include Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that incorporates the practise of a variety of mindfulness skills to address stress and coping; and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
•35 years of study- mindfulness-based interventions may lead to improvements in a range of conditions such as anxiety, depression, pain, stress, coping styles, sleep quality, and quality of life.

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Meta-analytic study reviewed fourteen studies on Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for psychiatric disorders and found a reduction of residual depressive symptoms, a reduction of residual anxiety symptoms , a reduction of inter-episodic depression and anxiety symptoms,  and prevention of major depressive relapses for people with Major Depression (MD), Bipolar Disorder, Depressive episodes with or without history of suicidal ideations, non-remitted phobic and Generalised Anxiety Disorder patients, patients with social phobia and recurrent MD with residual sleep complaints.
•Singh et al. concluded that mindfulness techniques assisted patients to acknowledge and deal with emotionally arousing situations appropriately.   Their study recorded less incidences of verbal aggression and no evidence of physical aggression on follow-up after four years, in patients with serious, chronic mental illness; this assisted in community placement of these individuals.  Studies have shown that mindful practice produces changes in brain function that alters the course of mental illness.  Mindfulness skills assist patients to deal with their psychological distress that in-turn help improve their quality of life.
by Dr Amit Chakraborty -

Canvas Artists’ Circle’s Annual Exhibition

Dr Debasis Bhattacharya, an eminent Psychiatrist & Visual Artist has been leading DANA’s current project on ‘Therapeutic Effect of Visual Art’. Both Dr Bhattacharya and Shri Harit Basu, a Senior Artist and Sculptor, who is supervising our clients in producing art-work, are members of Canvas Artists’ Circle which is organizing its annual exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata.Dr Debasis Bhattacharya

Harit Basu's Clay Model
Harit Basu’s Clay Model