By Matters India Reporter
Mangaluru, Feb 10, 2020: Thomas Scaria, a noted social scientist in Mangaluru, says everyone now requires psycho-education to lead a healthy life in the present challenging times.
“There is a notion that only the sick people require psycho-education. Yes, maybe, but to a great extent, but we are all sick. We are passing through a very difficult time in history,” Scaria, former senior program officer at Colombo Plan in Sri Lanka, noted on February 8 while opening a national workshop on “Psycho-Education” at Roshini Nilaya (house of light), in Mangaluru.
According to Thomas, who has a doctorate in Counseling and Psychology (on De-addiction and Rehabilitation), says the high rate of joblessness and dangerously low gross domestic production have made the poverty condition in India worse than some African nations.
“Suicide rates have grown drastically high. Many young people are becoming prey to drugs and alcohol. Depression is widespread, only we do not recognize it. That is why we all need Psychoeducation,” said Scaria who in 1992 started a de-addiction and counseling center in Mangaluru and headed it for 18 years.
He hailed the MSc counseling department of School of Social Work, Roshini Nilaya, for organizing the workshop named Scintilla 2020.
Scaria, a former student of the Master of Social Works in the same college, said the workshop on psychoeducation was an activity-oriented workshop to help participants understand the subject as well as facilitate them to undergo psycho-education to unearth the disorders within them.
Referring to various addictions, he pointed out that truck-load of free data supplied by various service providers over a long time has made at least half the Indian population addicted to mobiles and social media.
“As all of us know, prevention is better than cure. But almost all our medical systems, government policies, and funding avenues have only prioritized provisions for treatment. We have very little resources and people engaged in the prevention or early intervention.”
Thomas also asserted that society now needs psycho-education, psycho-social intervention and counseling.
“Schools need to integrate elements of psycho-social education along with their hectic curriculum. The universities should integrate lessons which will teach students to survive, to grow as creative and positive people with the ability to cope with their day-to-day stressful situations.”
Scaria wants the curriculum in the Indian educational institutions to undergo a drastic amendment, integrating human and social elements, not just knowledge and skills towards specialized workmanship.”
College principal Sister C J Juliet, while delivering the presidential address, stated that Scintilla 2020 aimed to bring in a spark that involves psycho-education whose goal is to better understand and become accustomed to positive mental health conditions.
“One gains knowledge of one’s strengths, abilities and seeks greater inner capacity through this workshop. Play is the feel for one’s imagination and creativity, problem-solving abilities and interpersonal relations,” added the member of the Daughters of Sacred Heart of Jesus congregation.
Earlier, Rosa Nimmy Mathew, the organizing secretary of the workshop, explained the ‘Scintilla’ 2020 would the young minds to take time to replenish themselves through play, to engage their creative side of the brain and to silence their inner editor. It would also help them acquire the skills to foster acceptance, to rekindle higher-order cognition and enhance interpersonal effectiveness, she added.