A novel approach to address the novel threat.

The editorial highlights the mental health initiative of the Government of Assam, India through the Monon: Assam Cares programme to deal with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Through this initiative, trained mental health professionals proactively reached to people with COVID-19 to provide psychological aid.

Profile of distress callers and service utilisation of tele-counselling among the population of Assam, India: an exploratory study during COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected people globally by causing psychological, social, and economic chaos. The Assam Police, India started telephone helplines to address the psychological issues. AIMS: To evaluate the sociodemographic profile of the distress callers, their psychosocial concerns, the interventions provided by the service provider, and whether the service users were satisfied with the intervention(s) or not. METHOD: It was a cross-sectional study done during the period of lockdown (7-24 April 2020). All the callers who called the helpline were screened for anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts (when required), and the psychosocial issues which they were facing were explored. They were provided the psychological intervention(s) at the appropriate time, and they were asked to rate their experience at the end. RESULTS: A total of 239 callers used the tele-counselling services. The majority of callers were male (79.1%). Most of the callers were between 19-35 years of age group (66.5%), married (52.5%), and graduates (31%). Two-thirds of the callers called to seek guidance for their own issues and one-third for their relatives or friends. Callers had anxiety (46%), depressive disorder (8.3%), and depressive symptoms not qualifying for depressive disorder (14%), and suicidal thoughts (5.44%). The commonest intervention provided to the callers was supportive (77.8%), followed by psychoeducation (30.5%), cognitive behaviour therapy (24.7%), relaxation (23.6%) and behaviour therapy (13.4%). Most of the callers utilised more than one type of therapy. Overall, most of the callers were satisfied and appreciated the tele-counselling services. CONCLUSION: The findings could help in formulating psychological interventions to improve the mental health of vulnerable groups in the post-COVID-19 period to reduce psychiatric morbidity and mortality.

Out of the closet.

An editorial on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and the initiatives of an activist for the community with those of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL) as well as the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®).

DEGREE AND FACTORS OF BURNOUT AMONG EMERGENCY HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN INDIA.

OBJECTIVE: 'Burnout' among emergency healthcare workers needs focus as they make crucial life changing decisions every day and thus, their state of physical and mental wellbeing is an absolute necessity. We aimed to find the level and factors contributing to burnout among the healthcare workers in the busiest Emergency Department of Northeast India. This is the first study done in this department to assess burnout. METHOD: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study assessed burnout of the doctors, nurses, and paramedics working in an emergency department of a busy tertiary care teaching institute. Association of demographic variables and factors influencing burnout was explored. Results were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: Low level in emotional exhaustion, moderate level in depersonalization, and moderate level in the lack of personal accomplishment was reported by participants. Children and partner were found to be protective factors. Working hours, duration and status (permanent/contractual) of service influenced burnout. CONCLUSION: Knowing the level of burnout and their determinants can help in formulating measures of improving the work environment. A healthy workforce ensures high quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction.

PATTERN OF SUBSTANCE USE IN A DRUG DEADDICTION CENTRE IN DIPHU- NORTHEAST INDIA-BASED STUDY.

BACKGROUND: India is a multicultural and multilingual democracy; the use of different substances is found to be regionally diversified. Ethnic variations have contributed to this diversification and so a single study on a particular region cannot be generalised to the whole Indian population. Alcohol is one of the most popular substances used in India which can be traced backed to the scriptures. The local homemade liquor is the most common form of liquor used by the Indian population. The traditional winemaking process is common among the different ethnic tribes of Northeast India and thus most of the alcohol use is unrecorded in this part of the country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational study was conducted in the Drug Deaddiction Centre of Diphu Civil Hospital, Assam where patients' recorded data over a four-year period was used. The data was reviewed retrospectively to understand the pattern of substance use in this region and the results were described using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Alcohol was found to be the most used substance and significant gender difference was noted among the users. Both tribal and nontribal groups were almost equally seen to use alcohol while around one-fifth of the population belonged to the age group of less than 30 years. Early initiation of alcohol use due to cultural reasons was suspected. Various health issues ranging from gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms to death due to alcohol misuse were reported. Due to the retrospective review process, missing data was found to be a significant limitation to this study. CONCLUSION: Adequate health promotion focusing on effects of alcohol on health should be undertaken in this region and proper follow-up of the treated patients should be done to prevent relapse.

Global psychiatry: a LAMIC perspective.

This editorial highlights the nouveau approach of OJPAS® to promote psychiatry in low and middle income countries (LAMIC), with research contributions from a global consortium.

Impact of stress, coping, social support, and resilience of families having children with autism: A North East India-based study.

Children with autism (CWA) is a segment of population in North East India who are marginalized due to lack of resources like skilled manpower and perceived stress. In comparison to other states and countries whether these children are unique in terms of care and rehabilitation from adult caregivers was the focus of our study. The study assessed level of parental stress, social support, coping mechanisms used by family and resilience in meeting the challenges as caregivers. Parents were selected by simple random sampling from a multi-specialty center dedicated to CWA. They were assessed with the help of structured tools like the Parental Stress Scale, the social support appraisals scale, the coping self-efficacy scale, and the Family Resilience Assessment Scale. Results were analyzed with descriptive statistics and findings suggest definite stress among the parents of CWA. Personal time constraint was noticed in majority of parents, which had adversely affected their professional lives. Despite wide array of stress factors, family members had satisfactory coping skills to work in harmony in adverse circumstances. Regarding secondary social support in terms of family, friends, and neighbors, responses were mixed; religious and spirituality were often resorted avenues. Social desirability, fatigue and the sample being restricted to only one center were though the limitations but, this study throws light on pertinent issues related to families with CWA from a region where specialty centers are a rarity. The future implication could focus on CWA's future, rehabilitation, care and parental concerns which are grossly neglected in North East India.