by Dr Amit Chakraborty -

Special Lecture on Mindfulness

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DANA organised a special lecture by Ms Mousumi Singh from Australia on

“Investigation into the Relationship between Mindfulness and Problem-solving Training in Adults with Major Mental Illness”. 

 

Excerpts:

•Mindfulness is conceptualized as involving two key components: “(1) intentional regulation of attention to and awareness of the present moment, and (2) nonjudgmental acceptance of the ongoing flow of sensations, thoughts, and/or emotional states”
•Mindfulness-based intervention strategies include Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that incorporates the practise of a variety of mindfulness skills to address stress and coping; and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
•35 years of study- mindfulness-based interventions may lead to improvements in a range of conditions such as anxiety, depression, pain, stress, coping styles, sleep quality, and quality of life.

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Meta-analytic study reviewed fourteen studies on Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for psychiatric disorders and found a reduction of residual depressive symptoms, a reduction of residual anxiety symptoms , a reduction of inter-episodic depression and anxiety symptoms,  and prevention of major depressive relapses for people with Major Depression (MD), Bipolar Disorder, Depressive episodes with or without history of suicidal ideations, non-remitted phobic and Generalised Anxiety Disorder patients, patients with social phobia and recurrent MD with residual sleep complaints.
•Singh et al. concluded that mindfulness techniques assisted patients to acknowledge and deal with emotionally arousing situations appropriately.   Their study recorded less incidences of verbal aggression and no evidence of physical aggression on follow-up after four years, in patients with serious, chronic mental illness; this assisted in community placement of these individuals.  Studies have shown that mindful practice produces changes in brain function that alters the course of mental illness.  Mindfulness skills assist patients to deal with their psychological distress that in-turn help improve their quality of life.
by Dr Amit Chakraborty -

Canvas Artists’ Circle’s Annual Exhibition

Dr Debasis Bhattacharya, an eminent Psychiatrist & Visual Artist has been leading DANA’s current project on ‘Therapeutic Effect of Visual Art’. Both Dr Bhattacharya and Shri Harit Basu, a Senior Artist and Sculptor, who is supervising our clients in producing art-work, are members of Canvas Artists’ Circle which is organizing its annual exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata.Dr Debasis Bhattacharya

Harit Basu's Clay Model
Harit Basu’s Clay Model
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Seminar on Art Therapy at DANA on 10/02/2013

Art therapyDANA organized its 2nd Seminar on Art-Therapy on 10th February, 2013 which was attended by a wide range of artists, art-therapists, activists and mental health professionals from Kolkata and other parts of India, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. The seminar was held at DANA’s own premises in Kolkata and the participants shared their experience of working with patients with mental health problems, patients suffering from cancer, patients under palliative care and jail-inmates.

While charing the seminar, Dr. Debasish Bhattacharya gave us an overview of art therapy as being practiced in recent times across the world. He emphasized on visual therapy & how its content & form plays a crucial role in understanding human psyche.  He narrated the various types of art therapies that can successfully be practiced to give relief to stress & tension of mentally dysfunctional people.