Tata Main Hospital today observed 'World Mental Health Day' (WMHDAY) at its premises. In keeping with the present year's theme, 'Advocacy for global mental health: scaling up services through citizen advocacy and action', an awareness session on mental illness and health was organized.

Eminent doctors from TMH including Dr F B Singh, Dr Prabhat Verma, Dr N K Das and Dr M N Singh enlightened the gathering on the various aspects of mental illness. Indian society, they opined, shows little or no mercy towards the mentally disabled. Each of them urged the media to aid them in spreading the message that the stigma attached to mental illness needs to be removed.

Addressing the gathering Mr Partha Sengupta, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel and chief guest on the occasion, said, "TMH is equipped with an impressive set of doctors in the Department of Neurology. Since the Eastern India lacks in adequate mental healthcare, it gives us a comparative edge to serve a wider number of people. The first step towards this is communication. We need to communicate the futility of harbouring stigma related to mental diseases. A holistic care should also be given to people suffering from mental disorders."

October 10 has been observed as the World Mental Day ever since 1992. The theme for this year as set by World Federation of Mental Health (WFMH) aims at informing and providing personalized treatment and resources that would help people across the globe in recovering from all forms of mental disorders. Mental health covers more than direct health issues and includes areas such as housing, education, justice and the art and community participation.