Gracious Life Foundation: Providing accessible mental health services

July 3, 2023 44 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 3

Gracious Life Foundation (GLF), a fledgling new NGO established in March 2022 has its objective set on providing appropriate and accessible mental health support services for the people of Nagaland and beyond.

With the state lacking a considerable number of services for persons suffering from mental health disorders, members of GLF hopes that their establishment would provide a haven for those seeking accessible treatment. In this regard, its head office located at 4th Mile, Diphupar, Chümoukedima near Lotha Baptist Church has a monthly Outpatient Department (OPD).

Psychiatric OPD
Speaking with its founder and Director, Lisali Humtsoe, she explained that their “Psychiatric OPD” first began to function from the month of March 2023. So far they have registered 98 patients between March to June. “We have patients coming in from the different localities of Dimapur, including the other districts of the state and even from Assam such as Merapani, Golaghat, Bokajan, Diphu and Khatkati.”

The OPD is among the first of its kind in Nagaland as it is purely meant to provide mental health services without any governmental support. Humtsoe noted that although their operation was modest in comparison, this was not for profit seeking motives but to give an essential service for people who do not have alternative options of seeking treatment or help for their disorders.

The medicines were being offered at a subsidised rate compared to the normal market prices as more than half of their patients were from poor socio-economic backgrounds.

In addition, most of the cases brought before them were for ‘Substance Induced Psychotic Disorder’ caused by the use of alcohol and other mind altering substances such as marijuana.

A significant portion of their patients also belonged to the age group of 21-35 years who were suffering from depression, anxiety, stress among others.

Facilities in Nagaland still remain poor
For Humstoe, her motive to open Gracious Life Foundation was due to her lived experience of a family member who had schizophrenia. “I had a very clear goal of wanting to contribute to society. The scenario of mental health in Nagaland still remains negligible,” she viewed.

Equipped with a Masters in Social Work (Medical and Psychiatric) she had also worked for seven years at ASHADEEP (a mental health society) based in Guwahati.

In regard to Nagaland, she observed how most of the districts still lacked functioning mental health facilities. Due to which private organisations such as GLF have come up to fill in the gap left by the government’s neglect.

Moreover, society’s attitude toward mental health still remained ignorant of the need to seek medical and professional help. Rather, most people would usually go to prayer centres for their sickness due to the lack of openness and acceptance, she added.