The 4-day 6th Bangladesh Clinical Psychology conference begins at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban, University of Dhaka on Saturday. The Department of Clinical Psychology of Dhaka University and Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Society jointly organized this conference.
Dhaka University VC Prof. Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman was present as a chief guest. The conference theme was ‘Community-Based Mental Health: The Key to Bridging the Mental Health Service Gap in Bangladesh’. The program was presided over by Dr. Muhammad Kamruzzaman Mazumdar, President of the Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Society (BCPS), a press release said.
In the speech of the chief guest, the Dhaka University VC said that the biggest obstacle to the treatment and prevention of mental illness in Bangladesh is people’s misconceptions about it. Preventing the misuse of smart phones, digital technologies and social media for mental health protection and removing social barriers to mental health treatment.
‘The connection between body and mind is complementary to each other. One cannot be thought of without the other. If there is a disease in the body, medicine is needed, and if there is a disease in the mind, it also needs treatment’, he told.
He congratulated everyone on the advancement of the Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Department in the last 25 years. Also, he praised the important role played by the Clinical Psychology Department and Clinical Psychology Society in mental health services in the country. He emphasized producing trained psychologists.
General Secretary of the Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Society (BCPS), Dr. Shahnur Hossain presented the keynote speech of the program.
Dr. Shahnur Hossain said that the theme emphasizes the provision of mental health services at the community level in the country with the aim of creating more awareness about mental health among people.
‘The 2018-19 survey conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health of Bangladesh showed that 92% of people in Bangladesh do not receive any treatment for mental illness and 18.7% of adults and 12.6% of children and adolescents suffer from mental health problems. 6.7% of adults suffer from depression and 4.7% from anxiety disorders’, he add.
He also highlighted the inadequacy of mental health care professionals needed to ensure mental health services to the country’s population, saying that there are about 1,000 psychologists in the country which is not enough to provide adequate mental health care. It takes many years to develop a psychologist as a professional, so he highlighted the issue of creating trained professionals with training to work at the community level.
Dr. Md. Robed Amin, Line Director of the Non-Communicable Disease Control Program of the Department of Health, Prof. Dr. Md. Mahbub Hasan, Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Dhaka University, and Dr. Graham Powell, former president of the British Psychological Society were present special guest.
