27th- 29th August, 2003, Pune, Maharashtra

Although invisible, mental health is an integral aspect of our everyday lives. The causes of mental ill health as well as mental health is located in the political, socio-cultural, economic and environmental factors surrounding a person's life. Biological factors may also play a role. So far, the only choice has been psychiatric drugs. Creative community alternatives to bio-medicine need to be developed. Such alternatives need to be locally based, accessible, affordable and appealing to existing cultural and religious diversity.

In our search for such healing alternatives, we found an exciting range of media directly and indirectly addressing mental health. Also, we found rich local resources and a diversity of practices. In organising our workshop on "Alternative mental health" in Pune, we explored with the resource persons, our curiosity about the therapy that each used:

	What aspect(s) of mental health does it address?
	In what way does it do so?
	Upto what extent does it help and what are its limitations?
	What is the experiential basis for the efficacy of such a therapy?

Every therapy has its strengths as well as its limitations. Philosophical questions about evidence base, quality care and good practice is common to all professional work. However, Alternative Mental Health (AMH) has the promise of self-help. They offer a rich choice and diversity that, when taken together, they constitute an alternative way of thinking about the self, in wellness and in ill health. Indeed these therapies address mental health in a holistic way. They offer the promise of healing rather than treatment. Most importantly, they bring mental health to community forums. Non-experts can also relate to the practice. Many strongly reflect the life worlds, resilience and creativity of communities.

The workshop explored the use of various therapies and creative media in healing: drums, music, dance, story telling, play, SHG, homeopathy, nutrition, orthomolecular psychiatry, neuro-linguistic programming and acumassage. The workshop received an enthusiastic response.

We now present our report of the workshop in the form of a publication. If you would like a copy of the publication, do write to us at wamhc@vsnl.net.

Contents
Alternative mental health: An Overview	by	Bhargavi Davar
Homeopathy in mental health	by	Sonali Sinha
Play therapy	by	Bhooshan Shukla
Story telling	by	Renu Gavaskar
Music therapy	by	Neelam Bhagwat
Drums circle	by	Zubin Balsara
Neurolinguistic programming	by	Avinash Vagha
Dance therapy	by	Suchitra Date
‘Nutrition’ and ‘Acumassage’	by	Vijaya Sathe
Hormones	by	Promod Vora
Self-help	by	Ekalavya

Title
Alternative Mental Health

Organised by
Centre for Advocacy in Mental Health

No. of Pages: 52

Price: Rs. 40

Funding support: Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Mumbai

CAMH Publications
	General Hospital Psychiatric Units and Rehabilitation Centres in India: Do Law and Public Policy Present Barriers to Community-Based Mental Health Services?
	Gender and Mental Health, a Report, 2006
	First Person Stories (Oral Histories Archive)
	Healing from Violence - A Counseling Manual
	Life behind walls…
	Bijli: Treating mental disorders
	Mental health, childbirth and pregnancy: Evidence
	Reproductive health and mental health: A book of abstracts
	Alternative Mental Health: A report of a Workshop
	A Directory of mental health services in Pune city
	(2003) (with Tathapi Trust) "Striya ani manasik aarogya… ek suruvath"
	(2002) (with Tathapi Trust) "Women and mental health: a beginning…
Other printed materials
	JMAA Posters
	Greeting Cards
	Posters