Chennai: With the presence of the virus, the Centre and state governments have stepped in by suggesting precautionary measures. But, they missed out on Covid patients' mental health. A hospital in the Thiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu has been taking care of the mental health of their patients. A medical team led by Kommanandal Regional Medical Officer Manikandaprabhu is treating at least 150 Covid patients.
Those receiving treatment at the hospital in Cheput were offered counselling for depression by a psychiatrist. Some of the patients who were suffering from autism were given the facility of reading books as a team of medical officers set up a library after some of their patients' request. The patients are also encouraged to take part in indoor games as the medical officer had provided a carrom board for the patients.
When ABP Nadu contacted Regional Medical Officer to know the reason behind this change over in their hospital, he shared an anecdote from his experience: "When we visit the Government Centers we found some patients sitting alone and dejected due to their health condition. Recently, a couple from the Chetput area were infected and admitted in our hospital for a few days. They were feeling sad that they couldn't celebrate their son’s birthday. After knowing this, Our team has decided to resolve their grief and arranged a birthday celebration at the hospital. We take mental health also in to account. It's important to be mentally fit alike physical fitness."
Regenboog charity foundation has been funding for the hospital for the patients' recreational purposes. When asked their charity, Kumaresan Vadamalai, a member from the Regenboog told ABP Nadu, "Our charity in Thiruvannamalai has been providing services to the people since last 2016. We have encouraged reading for more than 7,000 rural students through its 14,000 books. At the request of the doctors, we donated 500 books on science, medicine, novels, and health to the hospital in Chetput. Not only this, we are ready to provide books to all hospitals."