The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) is the main professional organization of

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

s in India. It was founded in 1929 under the banner of the

Royal Medico Psychological Association The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

. Its current president is Dr. N.N. Raju.

Founding

The organisation holds its origins in 1929, when Berkeley Hill founded the Indian Association for Mental Hygiene. In 1935, the Indian division of the

was formed due to the efforts of

Banarasi Das A Banarasi sari is a sari made in Varanasi, an ancient city which is also called Benares (Banaras). The saris are among the finest saris in India and are known for their gold and silver brocade or zari, fine silk and opulent embroidery. The sa ...

. In 1946, Dr. Nagendra Nath De consulted Major R. B. Davis of the Hospital for Mental Disease, Kanke,

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

, and Brigadier

Thomas Arthur Munro Dr Thomas Arthur Munro FRSE Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, FRCPE (1 October 1905 – 18 December 1966) was a 20th-century Scottish physician and psychologist. He was a joint founder of the Indian Psychiatric Society. In authorship he us ...

, Advisor in Psychiatry to the Indian Army, decided to revive the association. Due to their efforts, the Indian Psychiatric Society was inaugurated.

''Indian Journal of Psychiatry''

The IPS operates the

Indian Journal of Psychiatry The ''Indian Journal of Psychiatry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access medical journal. It is published by Medknow Publications on behalf of the Indian Psychiatric Society. It covers research in all fields of psychiatry. Each year, the Ap ...

, whose chief editor is Dr. Om Prakash Singh. It has once discussed the widely held practice of

covert medication Covert medication (also called concealed, hidden or surreptitious medication), the covert administration of medicines is when medicines are administered in a disguised form, usually in food or drink, without the knowledge or consent of the individ ...

in its July 2012 issue of its publication due to the effort of

Anirudh Kala Anirudh Kala, is an Indian psychiatrist based in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He had been an active participant in the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) for forty years and had raised awareness about mental health legislation and related issues among ...

Overview & Objectives

IPS is the largest professional body of psychiatry in India, whose stated aims are to: *''promote and advance the subject of Psychiatry and allied sciences in all their different branches,'' *''promote the improvement of the mental health of the people and mental health education, promote prevention, control, treatment and relief of all psychiatric disabilities, formulate and'' *''advise on the standards of education and training for medical and auxiliary personnel in psychiatry and to recommend adequate teaching facilities for the purpose,'' *''promote research in the field of psychiatry and mental health, propagate the principles of psychiatry and current development in psychiatric thought,'' *''deals with any matter relating to mental health concerning the country and'' *''to do all other things as are cognate to the subjects of the Indian Psychiatric Society, *safeguard the interest of psychiatrists and fellow professionals in India and'' *''promote ethical standards in the practice of psychiatry in India''

Publication

The Indian Psychiatric Society publishes its own journal,

Controversies

In 2013, it was reported that the then-incoming president of IPS,

Indira Sharma Indira Sharma is an Indian psychiatrist specialising in child psychiatry and women's mental health. She is a professor and head of the psychiatry department at Banaras Hindu University. In January 2013, she was elected president of the Indian Ps ...

m had delivered a speech which recommended marrying off men at a younger age to prevent sexual crimes against women. Subsequently, it was also reported that high-ranking IPS officials were ordering IPS members to abstain from communicating with media houses to prevent any further controversy and negative press. The IPS officials also convened a meeting to discuss whether to publish her speech on the IPS website, or to censor the controversial sections. At the January 2014 annual meeting of the Indian Psychiatric Society, and i
subsequent remarks to the press
Dr. Sharma, then the Immediate Past President, engendered even more controversy by stating that homosexuality was unnatural, homosexuals can be cured, and that by talking openly about sex homosexuals were making everyone else uncomfortable. Dr. A.K. Kala, a senior member and Chairperson of Mental Health Legislation Committee requested the IPS President to post the official position of the IPS about homosexuality on its website. When that did not happen, Dr. Kala resigned from the membership of IPS, possibly the only Psychiatrist to have ever done so.

Ambassadors

Deepika Padukone is the brand ambassador for the Indian Psychiatric Society.

References

External links

Indian Psychiatric Society

Indian Journal of Psychiatry

Indian Psychiatric Society - Tamil Nadu Chapter

27 th annual state conference at thanjavur
{{authority control Mental health organisations in India Psychiatric associations 1929 establishments in India Organizations established in 1929