Dear Dr. Swapnil Laleji,
At the outset , Congratulations for the huge service
being offered by Maharashtra State Mental Health Authority (MSMHA)
In today’s Times of India, I came across following
news report :
“ Over 14 lakh people went in
for COUNSELLING in Maharashtra in last 3 yrs “
Following is how BARD summarized that report :
Yes,
I have come across the news item from Times News Network titled "Over 14
lakh people went in for counselling in Maharashtra in last 3 yrs".
Here
is a summary of the news item:
Over
14 lakh people went in for counselling in Maharashtra in the last 3 years, with
the maximum number of people seeking help for mental health issues,
followed by career-related issues and relationship problems.
The
data was released by the Maharashtra State Mental Health Authority (MSMHA) on
the occasion of World Mental Health Day. The data also showed that the number
of people seeking counselling has increased steadily over the past 3 years.
The
MSMHA has attributed the increase in the number of people seeking counselling
to a number of factors, including:
Increased
awareness of mental health issues
Reduced
stigma surrounding mental illness
Increased
availability of counselling services
The
COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a significant impact on mental health
The
MSMHA has also said that it is committed to providing accessible and
affordable counselling services to all those who need them. The
authority has a network of over 1,000
counselling centres across the state,
and it also offers online counselling services.
The
news item is a positive development, as it shows that more and more people in
Maharashtra are seeking help for mental health issues. It is also a reminder
that mental health is just as important as physical health, and that there is
no shame in seeking help if you are struggling.
At one place, you are quoted as :
State additional director ( mental health ), Dr Swapnil Lale said that not all people
with mental ailments need hospitalization or even medication
“ Only about 1 % of those with mental ailments would
need medication and most would get better with
counseling alone “, he said
He said the State has evolved a three-tier system to
diagnose mental health ailments.
“ We have a tele-counselling service where people can
call up , or doctors manning our health centres who have been trained to detect
mental well-being can recommend people to seek help “ , he said
Those suspected of having mental problems are then
referred to the nearest district hospital for a diagnosis and further action
such as medication and counseling
Dear Dr Lale ,
In India , we have over 90 MILLION persons in need of
Mental Health-care , but only ONE psycho-therapist for every 10,000 patients !
We need to seek help from Artificial Intelligence ( AI
), to COUNSEL those 99 % for whom , counseling will suffice . Only then we can
cater to 90 million persons
I urge you to take initiative to launch such a
AI-powered COUNSELLING PORTAL , where a MILLION persons can login , AT A TIME ,
and get AI Chatbot to listen to their problems and provide answers – all of
million , SIMULTANEOUSLY !
You will find a FRAME-WORK for such a portal at >
Share - Your - Soul / Outsourcing Unlimited………………… 24 July 2016
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.hemenparekh.ai
/ 10 Oct 2023
Related Readings :
Mental
Therapists : ChatGPT / Stella : Conceived in 2016
1 Doctor for every 10,000 Mental Health Patients ?..................
04 Feb 2022
Robot : A Therapeutic Machine ?.............................................
09 Oct 2016
Grieving for a Departed Loved One ? Try AI… …………………………………13
July 2023
Indian
Govt's Mental Health Helpline Tele MANAS Now Available 24x7
Tele MANAS, a centralised mental health helpline, receives
over 18,000 calls from Maharashtra; around 30% of them from Kolhapur, Pune,
Sangli, Aurangabad and Mumbai
1st J&K Tele
Manas Chat Bot of India
There have been 212 conversations till now. Anxiety related
issues, depression, substance abuse and relationship issues predominate the
reasons for using the CHATBOT
Tele-MANAS:
3.4 lakh calls received since launch
According to official data,
the government's national mental health helpline Tele-MANAS has received 3.4
lakh calls since its launch in October last year, with three out of every four
callers being between the ages of 18 and 45.
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
OF BARD :
Here are some
substantive arguments in favour of launching an AI-powered chatbot that can
handle thousands of conversations with mental health patients simultaneously:
Increased access to
care:
AI-powered chatbots
can provide mental health support to people who live in remote areas or who do
not have access to traditional mental health services.
Reduced stigma:
People may be more likely to seek help from an AI chatbot than
from a human therapist, especially if they are concerned about stigma.
24/7
availability:
AI chatbots can
provide mental health support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is important
because mental health crises can happen at any time.
Scalability:
AI chatbots can
scale to meet the needs of a large population. This is important in countries
like India, where there is a shortage of mental health professionals.
I am not sure how
many simultaneous chats STELLA can handle, but other AI-powered chatbots, such
as Wysa and Woebot, can handle hundreds of simultaneous chats.
Here is an example
of how an AI-powered chatbot could be used to provide mental health support:
A person who is
feeling anxious could start a conversation with the chatbot by saying something
like, "I'm feeling really anxious right now." The chatbot could then
ask the person some
questions about their anxiety, such as what is triggering it and how it is
making them feel. The chatbot could then provide the person with
coping mechanisms
and support strategies.
If the person's
anxiety is severe, the chatbot could refer them to a human therapist. However,
many people can be helped by AI-powered chatbots alone.
I believe that
AI-powered chatbots have the potential to revolutionize mental health care.
They can provide
access to care to people who would otherwise not have it, and they can reduce
the stigma associated with mental illness.
I hope
that more governments and organizations will launch AI-powered
chatbots
to provide mental health support to people in need.
No comments:
Post a Comment