Galkot (Baglung), January 9: The psychiatry department at Dhaulagiri Hospital in the district has been affected due to the shortage of psychiatrists for the past four months. The hospital has stated that the psychiatry department, which has been active for three years, has been virtually idle for the past four months.
Doctors say that the number of people with mental illness has been increasing recently, and that the suicide rate is increasing if mental illness is not treated in time. When KB Rana Magar was the chairman of the Hospital Management Committee, a Psychiatry Department was established and treatment and counseling services were operated. Once psychiatric treatment was started, the hassle of having to travel to Pokhara and Kathmandu was eliminated.
The position of psychiatrist at the hospital has been vacant since Dr. Mankaji Thapa, a psychiatrist who has been running the department for the last 12 months, was recommended to the department under the federal government in Bhadau.
The hospital’s medical recorder, Nawaraj Sharma, informed that only one psychologist is currently working in the psychiatry department, which is providing specialized services at the hospital. According to him, the department, which was vacant for a month after the departure of psychiatrist Rajendra Ghimire, was started under the leadership of Thapa. The shortage of doctors in the department occurred after Thapa was also recommended elsewhere last Bhadra.
Statistics from the district-based Public Health Office show that the number of mental health patients has increased in recent times due to poverty, social and cultural gender discrimination, luxurious lifestyle, necessity, the impact of foreign employment, misuse of social media, unemployment, pressure to study, addiction, loneliness, parents not giving time to their children, mental stress, ambition, and increased use of mobile phones. Health workers say that the risk of suicide as a result of mental illness increases.
Sharma, the hospital’s medical recorder, said that the problem is due to the lack of a psychiatrist position in the hospital. He mentioned that the Ministry of Health is coordinating with Gandaki Province to create a psychiatrist position. Asha Thapa is currently working as a psychotherapist in the hospital’s psychiatry department. Thapa said that due to the lack of doctors, patients with mental illness, anxiety, and other conditions who need medication have to be sent to Pokhara.
Baglung Municipal Health Branch Chief Ram Prasad Khanal said that the rate of suicide due to mental illness has increased in the district recently. “It has been seen that mental illness can lead to suicide. It is necessary to not give mobile phones to young children and keep them under the supervision of their parents,” he said. “Now, it is necessary to go beyond the number of suicides and to run counseling classes at the local level.”
In the last three years, 42 people have committed suicide in Baglung Municipality alone. Khanal said that social discrimination, unemployment, misuse of social media, etc. have led to increasing loneliness, depression, and ultimately, mental illness, leading to suicide.
According to the Baglung District Police Office, 60 people committed suicide in a year. Among the various incidents taking place in the district, the suicide graph is increasing every year, informed District Police Office Police Inspector Pratap Poudel. He said that the number of people committing suicide is increasing due to mental illness, depression, addiction, family problems, love and problems arising from foreign employment.
Police statistics indicate that the most common suicides are suicides by hanging, consuming poison, and jumping. In the fiscal year 2078/79, out of 37 people who committed suicide, 34 committed suicide by hanging, two by jumping, and one by consuming poison, informed Police Inspector Poudel. According to him, 45 people committed suicide in the fiscal year 2079/80 and 60 in the previous fiscal year.
Police Inspector Poudel said that despite raising public awareness on the issue of suicide, providing psychological counseling by health institutions at the local level, and conducting campaigns to prevent suicide by various organizations, the number of suicides is increasing. He informed that based on the statistics of the last three years, the number of suicides has doubled.
