Psychiatry

Psychiatry Department

The department of psychiatry started functioning in 1973 under the leadership of Dr. George Isaac, the first psychiatrist of the department. The department is one among the earliest centres in the country to provide psychiatric care in the general hospital settings.

The department caters to the needs of patients from all parts of Kerala and neighbouring states in addition to the local community. Around 40,000 patients attend the OPD each year. The department has inpatient facility to provide treatment for 80 patients at a time. It also provides 24 hours emergency services and runs several speciality clinics.

Facilities available

1. Outpatient facilities

Services of psychiatrists and a clinical psychologist are available for consultation in the outpatient department on all working days. Facilities for psychological testing and psychotherapy are also available.

2. Inpatient facilities

The department provides inpatient treatment.

Strength of beds

General ward - 34

Isolation rooms for intensive care - 05

Pay wards - 25

De-addiction unit - 20

All patients who seek admission should have a bystander along with them till they get discharged
Conducts regular occupational therapy
All the inpatients are regularly seen by psychiatrists, clinical psychologist and psychiatric social workers
Conducts regular individual and group therapy sessions
Provides psychotherapy
Trained nurses are posted in all the wards to take care of the patients
Security services are available in the general and de-addiction wards
Facility for modified ECT is also available for the patients

3. Interdepartmental services

Patients who seek treatment in the department can also avail the services of other departments like general medicine, neurology and all other departments of the medical college hospital. Investigative facilities like EEG, CT scan, MRI scan, ultrasound etc are also available

4 Speciality clinics.

a)    Child guidance clinic

b)   Sexual dysfunction counselling clinic

c)    Adolescent counselling clinic

d)    Lithium clinic

5. Psychological services

a)    Psychological assessment (psychometry) for

Intelligence (IQ test)

Learning disability

Personality

Memory functions

Cognitive functions

Organicity

Tests of attention/concentration

Aptitude

Normal/abnormal

Neurotic/psychotic

b)   Psychological therapies

Hypnosis

Psychotherapy

Behavioural therapy

Cognitive therapy

Relaxation therapy

Marital therapy

Annapoorna scheme

It is a novel scheme for giving free food to poor patients admitted in the general ward. It was launched in January 1993 by the selfless and incessant effort of Dr. VMD Namboodiri, former head of the department. He has instituted a corpus fund for this programme.

MMM De-addiction centre

The department also runs a de-addiction centre for patients with addiction problems since 1994. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. The centre provides free treatment to persons with alcohol dependency and drug abuse.

ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTRE

Primary Prevention

-          Awareness programmes in schools, colleges and for the public

-          Seminars and workshops for the public and the professionals

-          Observance of International Day against drug abuse and World no tobacco day

-          Conducts Essay, Drawing, Cartoon, Quiz competitions among school - college students and the public

-          Conducts exhibitions on the evils of drug abuse and alcoholism and HIV/AIDS for the public

Secondary Prevention

            1. Outpatient treatment care

               a. Consultation with the psychiatrists

               b. Counselling

   c. Classes

          2. Inpatient care and treatment

               a. Detoxification

               b. Medical treatment

               c. Treatment for other related illness

               d. Psycho-social management

                         -     Psychological testing and assessment

-          Counselling (Individual, family and group counselling)

-          Psychotherapy

-          Behavioural therapy

-          Cognitive therapy

-          Supportive therapy

-          Group therapy

-          Yoga therapy

-          Educational programmes

Tertiary prevention

-          Follow-up medical review

-          Follow-up counselling

-          Follow-up home visits

-          Follow-up letters

-          Follow-up phone calls

-          AA meetings

-          Al-anon - Al-ateen meetings

-          Vocational counselling for job placement, self employment etc.

Smoke Quit Clinic

The centre also provides special medication and counselling to those who want to quit smoking and chewing tobacco products

Therapeutic Team

Dr. Kuruvilla Mathew, MD (Psychiatry) DPM

          Associate Professor & Head of the Department

Dr. Joseph Varghese P, DPM, Dip.NB (Psychiatry)

          Associate Professor and Project Director, De-addiction Unit

Dr. Sitalakshmi M.N ,MD(Psychiatry),DPM

Dr.Joice Geo,MBBS,DPM (Senior Tutor)

De-addiction Unit

Mr.. Francis Moothedan , MA (Socio), MA (Psy), MA (CC&E), DSS

Senior Counsellor

Ms. Nima N.S, MSW

Counsellor