DOST

DOST

Gautam Garg
Gurukool MAMC, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India

Need of an innovation: The prevalence of mental health problems is increasing at an alarming rate among medical students, with those at risk left further vulnerable by the stigma associated with mental health. Concrete, sustainable, and effective initiatives to identify and help students suffering from these problems in a stigma free environment are scarce.

Novelty DOST aims to increase awareness regarding mental health among students, empowering them to identify and help their peers who may be suffering with care and empathy This is achieved through various procreative activities. The “DOST Box” and the DOST email provide an effective recourse for anyone to seek help regarding their mental health issues, including addiction and substance abuse, and receive proper screening and counselling through our Department of Psychiatry and hired psychologists, with full confidentiality. The self- sustaining peer counselling model involving regular meetings of “peer support groups” provides an empathetic ear and better problem solving through teamwork.

Utility: We have received a large number of applications for counselling and have been able to successfully get them the required help via therapy. Another collateral benefit of our organisation is providing a platform for creative expression and personality development by producing content, art and managing events, which increases harmony, team-spirit, confidence, leadership skills and self-satisfaction.

Impact: 97% students who attended believe that our regular cultural events on campus have managed to increase the sensitivity and awareness of our students making them more empathetic and considerate towards mental health issues, resulting in a stigma-free community. We have successfully identified and facilitated counselling for students suffering from anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, OCD, PTSD, and other common disorders. We have been able to successfully encourage students to introspect and take actions to help increase their mental well-being on an individual level by adopting skills like mindfulness, journaling, exercising, self-care, contact with nature, opening up and also following up on their friends, thus creating self-sustainability in the community. Not only this, we also identify and provide guidance for academic and non-academic struggles faced by the students, by increasing informal and free-wheeling senior-junior interactions.

Cost effectiveness: The screening for mental health is provided by utilising the Department of Psychiatry and then referring to hired counsellors if needed. The cost of raw material for decoration and other materials required for events is borne by the society. Our Peer Support Group model is self-sustainable, as they are managed by peer facilitators who are volunteers from the campus itself, trained by the HandNHand team through their InItTogether program, based in Australia.