However, this is not the first time that I've got an award from the state government. They were in recognition of only my achievements in the field of theatre and literature.

For as far as I can remember I've always thought of mental healthcare as a field much removed from institutionalised treatment of diseases. I was initiated into looking at mental health in this way by my professor Dr L P Shah when I was a student at the KEM hospital. I began working with alcoholics which provided me with an invaluable experience which proved to be a good launching ground when I moved on to work with drug addicts in 1985.

I learnt the basics of community psychiatry during the 500-odd slide show lectures on addiction that I conducted in community settings all over Mumbai and its suburbs. A mentally ill person cannot be looked at inisolation. His/her environment which contains much of the determining factors of his mental development may be causing or aggravating his condition.

At the Institute for Psychological Health (IPH), Thane (which was set up by like minded medicos in 1990) we have tried to concentrate on the preventive and promotive aspects of mental health as much as the curative. It is here that our community outreach programmes help in a big way.

Since research has proven that delinquency and addiction are rooted in the family atmosphere we have separate working groups for parents and children where they learn to develop skills in improving familial atmosphere. This is aimed at opening up communication between the children and parents so that any problem can be dealt with as soon as it manifests itself.

Group and individual therapy sessions conducted as part of de-addiction related projects and programmes see to it that the patient is made to feel comfortable all through. For example when group activities are planned itis the group members who decide what kind of leisure activity they want to take up. Not only that some of the patients gain enough confidence to take on some of the organising responsibilities.

This exercise helps in building confidence and self-esteem as he/she begins to believe - `Even I can do it.' Not only does IPH work with drug addicts but also with their family members to improve their social acceptance and find out if the cause lies within the family. We do a lot of role-playing in our workshops with parents, siblings and spouses to help them modify their behaviour pattern in order that recovery is speeded up and avoid a relapse.

Personalised therapy is used as a part of intensive case work depending on the patient's individual needs. Along with these activities we are in the process of carrying out `psycho-education' through our outreach programmes in order to alter the way society looks at and treats mentally ill persons and their families. It is with this end in view that we have support groupsand self help groups for families and relatives of the patient too.

Developments in technology like the internet have made it possible to provide counselling services in a totally non-threatening environment where the caller can leave out his identity and not have to face the discomfort of speaking to the counsellor face-to-face.

While I still feel that this system does not have the advantage of a personal touch if the deluge of response we receive for our counselling site maitra@healthy mind.org I am forced to admit that this is the way more and more people around the world will seek counselling services.

(Well-known psychiatrist and playwright Dr Anand Nadkarni has been selected for the state government's award for contribution in the area of de-addiction. The award was instituted by the Social Welfare Department this year.)