CCMH was founded in 2017 with an aim to provide excellent education and training as per the international standards to professionally train students and engage in the capacity building of professionals. This center focuses on a preventive approach to promote positive mental health. The main aim is to create a critical workforce groomed to provide services in various settings namely educational institution, government institution, primary and tertiary healthcare and policy developing institutes. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the center and the Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Australia is established. The collaboration will carry forward academic and research work. To meet the interests, center intends to undertake: collaborative research projects, exchange of academic staff and faculty, organizing lectures and symposia and various developmental/training programs in mental health.
There is an estimate that by 2020, depression will be the second leading disability worldwide. In India, there
are approximately 20–30 million people who need mental health care. WHO estimates that the burden of
mental health problems is of the tune of 2,443 DALYs per 100,000 populations. Mental health ailments are
caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological and social (cultural and economic) factors. In
countries like India, the social determinants of health like employment, education, living standards,
environment, access, equity and others contribute significantly to both causation and recovery. Poverty, low
living standards and related factors are implicated in the increased occurrence, but they also vitiate the cycle of
poverty and impoverishment. From a cultural perspective, mental health ailments are associated with a
considerable amount of ignorance and stigma in Indian society, leading to discrimination and marginalization.
During the last five decades, a myriad number of researchers from India and abroad have examined mental
health issues, both in clinical and community settings. However, they have been extremely limited on health
care utilization, disability, impact, stigma and the overall impact of mental health ailments on individuals and
families. Methodological limitations are also existing and the emergence of new patterns in mental ailments
needs proper scientific enquiry. Furthermore, the preparedness,
responsiveness and capacity of health systems to address these
challenges have not been well understood till date. Thus, these
issues combined, have not only slowed the growth of mental
health services, but also limited its expansion both quantitatively
and qualitatively.
When it comes to colleges, students face many challenges such as
independently managing their lives, establishing new
relationships, and succeeding in various academic, athletic, and
artistic pursuits. These challenges often instill self-doubt that
lead psycho-social problems such as drinking alcohol, consuming
drugs, emotional and behavioral problems etc. thus, there is need
to address these not only through counselling but also through
expert talks and on-campus activities.
CCMH aims to create awareness regarding mental
health, provide excellent education and training at par with
international standards to professionally train students and
engage in capacity building of existing professionals. The
Institute shall focus on preventive approach to promote positive
mental health in society. The main aim is to create critical workforce
groomed to provide services in various settings namely
educational institutions, government institutions, primary and
tertiary health care setting, policy developing institutes.