Mohali
10 July 2018
DIVYA AZAD
For the third year in a row, the Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences at Fortis Healthcare, is organising India’s most acclaimed and noteworthy psychology quiz competition, ‘Psych – ED’. Designed and executed under the aegis of Dr. Samir Parikh, the quiz illustrates Fortis Healthcare’s endeavour to make mental health a priority for India’s youth. The quiz puts to test the knowledge of students from Class XI & XII and seeks to cultivate their interest in the subject. The objective of the quiz is to impart learning while ensuring that the subject remains engaging and fun for the students. The online registrations would close on 30thJuly 2018. The first round of Psych -ED, which is an online quiz, will be held on August 7, 2018.
Each school is required to nominate a team of three students from their senior secondary class. These students will compete in the three rounds of the competition – an online quiz, a zonal round and the finale. The online quiz, held in the school premises, will determine the top twelve qualifying schools (from each zone), which will participate in the ‘Zonal Finals”. These zonal finals will be heldacross Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The winning team from each zone will compete in the Finale, which will be held in the National Capital Region on September 1st, 2018.
The prizes include a one lakh rupee cash prize, a scholarship offer from G.D. Goenka University and an opportunity to intern with Mental Health and Behavioural Science Department of Fortis Healthcare.
Last year, PSYCH –ED witnessed the participation of over 460 schools from across 90 Indian cities. Over a thousand students participated in the quiz. Students from remote locations of India used digital networks to ensure their involvement. From Tripura to Surat to Jammu to Chennai, there was no corner of India, which was not aware of the Psych – ED. The Psych – ED quiz is an innovative tool through which each student will become an ambassador for positive mental health and aim to reduce the stigma that shrouds mental illnesses.
Speaking on this unique initiative, Dr. Samir Parikh said, “The quiz presents students with the opportunity to hone their ability in objectively creating a juxtaposition between theory and practicality. We will be using testing tools such as crosswords, audio-visual elements, buzzer rounds and rapid fires. The quiz will challenge teams to step outside their comfort zones, and dig deep into their knowledge and understanding of the human mind. The purpose of our efforts is to advocate for a much larger cause – sensitization of the masses with respect to good mental health. In this perilous time, where suicides and mental health illnesses are at the forefront of India’s healthcare crisis – it is important to make people aware. As professionals in this field, we need to give these tabooed and stigmatised issues a platform on which they can be showcased without any filters.”
India continues to experience a deficit of over 300% with regard to the number of mental healthcare experts. There is an urgent need to ensure a paradigm shift in our understanding of psychology and mental health – a change that needs to first take seed at a grassroots level.
For further details on the quiz, please visit:www.fortispsyched.com
