Central Institute of Psychiatry: A tradition in excellence.

Abstract

Byline: S. Nizamie, Nishant. Goyal, Mohammad. Haq, Sayeed. Akhtar Introduction Growth of mental asylums in British India was a less conspicuous form of social control which reflected the colonial mindset of the prevailing societal norms.[sup] [1] The first lunatic asylum in India was established in Bombay (Mumbai) in the year 1745, followed by Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1784. Subsequently number of such asylums increased significantly and by the year 1947, there were 31 mental hospitals in India.[sup] [2] After independence mental hospitals were opened in various states. A recent survey revealed that there are 59 mental hospitals in the country.[sup] [3] Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP), Ranchi is a premier institute for mental health in India. It started in 1918 and since then it has been a pioneer in the field of psychiatry. Till independence, this hospital was meant exclusively for the treatment of European patients. With a bed capacity of 643, it is spread over an area of 210 acres and the wards are named after eminent European psychiatrists, e.g., Kraepelin, Bleuler, Freud, Maudsley, etc. Recent facilities and establishments are named after eminent Indian psychiatrists like D. Satyanand, L. P. Verma, R. B. Davis, K. Bhaskaran, etc. It may be worth noting that unlike other mental hospitals, CIP has never been a custodial care facility. It has always been an open hospital with a comprehensive biopsychosocial approach for management of mentally ill patients. Currently, the institute functions under the administrative control of Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, with the objectives of patient care, manpower development, and research in the field of mental health. Development of CIP: 1918–1947 In India, the traditional approach for the care of mentally ill patients during the last 200 years has been modeled after contemporary Britain, being custodial in nature.[sup] [4] Patients were treated at secluded places in unhygienic conditions without any facilities to fulfill their basic needs. The condition worsened in the early years of twentieth century when there was substantial increase in the number of patients during World War I. By the end of 1914, it was recognized that the lunatic asylums at Bhowanipore and Berhampore in Bengal were in bad shape, overcrowded with European patients. A dire need to establish a new asylum to accommodate these patients was felt. Ranchi was proposed as the preferred site for construction of a mental asylum probably for its location, climate, and wilderness at that time. Writing about inception of this hospital, Lt. Colonel Owen Berkeley-Hill[sup] [5] wrote: To the best of my knowledge Ranchi European Asylum as it was first called was the product of a panic on the part of the government of Bengal. people of Calcutta were beginning to realize that the old Bhowanipore asylum was a disgrace to their fair city. I know as a fact that round about 1880 Indian lunatics in Bhowanipore were employed in dragging scavenger carts through the streets. Guilty conscience in Calcutta grew so numerous that at least it was decided that some thing should be done about it. The ravaging condition of the lunatics caused a lot of stir in Calcutta and after much deliberation the work started at Kanke, Ranchi and by 1918 the asylum destined for Europeans and Anglo-Indians was ready to receive its guests. Ranchi European Lunatic Asylum came into existence on May 17, 1918 and all Europeans and Anglo-Indian inmates of Bhowanipore and Berhampore Lunatic Asylum were transferred here.[sup] [6] At the outset, it had a bed capacity for 174 patients and it was under the direct control of Government of Bihar. On October 27, 1919 Lt. Colonel Owen Berkeley-Hill, a psychiatrist in the British Army became the medical superintendent of the European Lunatic Asylum. With great efforts, he could manage to convince the authorities to change names of ' lunatic asylum ' in India to ' mental hospital ' in 1920. …