Meet Kashmir Psychiatrist who won prestigious South Asian SPIRIT Fellowship for suicide prevention

Srinagar: A Kashmiri Psychiatrist has earned a rare honor by bagging the prestigious South Asia Implementation Research Fellowship for suicide prevention.

Dr. Sheikh Shoib, who works as a consultant psychiatrist at Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital (JLNM) Srinagar was earlier awarded the world psychiatric fellowship award by World Congress on Psychiatry last year.

The fellowship aims to increase the knowledge and skills in implementation science, particularly in mental health. It is run by Suicide Prevention & Implementation Research Initiative (SPIRIT) hub. SPIRIT aims to implement and evaluate integrated, evidence-based suicide prevention and intervention at scale in rural communities.

Dr. Shoib has published scores of publications in national and international journals like The Lancet. He has more than 1500 citations.

Born and brought up in Srinagar, Dr. Shoib’s love for psychiatry has its roots in childhood.

“It was during my school days when one of my classmates developed a mania-like episode. It led him to drop out of school.  Somehow, I wanted to help him, and yet I felt helpless. However, he rejoined after undergoing treatment. For the first time, I heard the term `psychiatrist’ who helped him with his illness. That incident made me feel the importance of this branch and eventually, it became my goal to pursue it,” he recalled.

He said the fellowship provides an excellent opportunity for early-mid career researchers and healthcare professionals to obtain the knowledge and skills in implementation science, particularly in mental health.

“Further, it focuses on evidence-informed policies for suicide prevention. Suicide is a major social and public health concern in South Asia and post-pandemic, Kashmir is also staring at a mental health crisis with suicides increasing at an alarming rate,” Dr. Shoib said.

The psychiatrist noted that one in four people experience a mental health problem of some kind every year. There are multiple and myriad mental health challenges faced by psychiatric patients in the valley “From stigma to misinformation, to poor mental health, illiteracy to poverty, continuous turmoil and trauma in the valley is another challenge. Further, there is a poor referral to psychiatrists and late first contact with psychiatrists in the valley.”

He stressed that the fellowship provides the tools and tips to enable the translation of science to serve to enhance depression care. “At a time, when the post-pandemic effects on mental health are quite prominent in the valley, this fellowship will be a great way to understand research participation and long-term sustainability for improved mental health and suicide prevention,” Dr. Shoib said.