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associated stigma and help them to rehabilitate in society as a person

without mental illness with dignity. The present image of Khap
Panchayats (as per critics) has grey shades with more stokes of black
than white. The Khaps need to do the churning to bring out its
positive role in helping people with mental illness in achieving and
maintaining well-being and have to remove the stains of the blames.
The nation's ability to respond to the psychological morbidity
depends in part on the availability of effective intervention. The
adaptive mechanisms both at individual and community level get
overwhelmed under lack of resources and vulnerabilities take the
lead. Hence, community psychiatry can be a vehicle for modifying
general psychiatry's propensity towards individualism and
reductionism by offering a more holistic and integrative approach to
illness and well-being (Cohen et al., 2003). So that psychiatric
patients also get chance to live normally, and the protection of that
one chance therefore demands special commitment.
A considerable proportion of people with psychiatric illness
continue to have significant problems with personal as well as social
functioning, even with ideal treatment. Some of them are not so
disabled or behaviorally disturbed that they need continued indoor
care, but they persist at risk of social isolation, self-neglect, relapse,
incompetence to cope and exploitation in community settings.
Home/community delivered behavioral health services are
specifically appropriate for children and adolescents who require
intervention at the sites where their problematic behaviors occur. It is
recognized that most of the developing countries are facing a double
burden of disease. While risks of communicable diseases have been
reduced over the past few decades, those of non-communicable
disease (e.g. mental illness) are on the rise. Mental health
professionals have meticulously recorded the deficiencies in
providing optimal level of treatment that can reach to every patient,
yet they continue to operate with impunity. In spite of strong counter
evidence social stigma against mental patients continue to exist.
Chowdhry (2005) argues that Khap (caste) panchayats are so
powerful because of their ability to mobilize a large number of
people. Involving Khaps in helping mentally ills would represent a
significant new direction not only to de-stigmatization of mentally
ills but for the development of mental health services in our country.
People who have a mental illness seek similar opportunities and
responsibilities as other members of the community. These people's
goals may include their own home in the community, friendships and
recreation, relationships with family and community, training and
work opportunities. The main function would be to provide support
to help people with mental health needs to gain or regain skills and
confidence to achieve the same kinds of goals in life as other citizens.
So they can provide support to the mentally ill and their family at
many levels so that resilience among these vulnerable is
indispensable. These supports can be in different forms (to name a
few) including: (a.) Tangible support (monetary aids, referring them
to mental health professionals, providing them shelters in case of
homelessness), (b.) Information Support (educational or
occupational guidance);(c) Emotional Support (showing care and
sympathy to reinforce their self-esteems so that they can relate with
others easily).Collaboration of mental health team and Khap
members can make following goal true: Focus on Holistic Recovery
and Coordinated Care that include following facilities such as mental
health treatment in primary care, round-the-clock service, evidence
based treatment, care that is sensitive to gender and cultural issues,
care close to home, reduce inequality and ensure social justice,
family, peer and community support, supported employment,

community residences for adults and children, teaching family

homes for children. That lead patients to achieve improvement and
training in daily living Skills, independent living skills and
increased healthy socialization. In short it can be said that benefits of
involving Khaps would be two folded, at individual level benefits
such as enhanced personal development, self-esteem, selfconfidence, improved feelings of health and well-being. On other
hand, social benefits include community empowerment and
identity, active citizenship, improved educational performance,
increased employment rates and improved social cohesion, social
capital and reduced social isolation. Involving Khap in prevention
level would also create a difference on all the three levels of
prevention (Primary prevention, Secondary prevention and Tertiary
prevention). Primary prevention is the reduction in the rate of new
cases of mental disorder in a population by reducing community
wide harmful influences (bad parenting, domestic violence, and
trauma). In short, Primary prevention targets the causes of healthy
and unhealthy conditions with interventions to promote healthy
behaviors and prevent a disorder from developing. Secondary
prevention targets the population at risk to protect them against the
onset of disorders. In other words, secondary prevention is the
reduction in the prevalence of mental disorder in population by
shortening the duration of illness through early case finding and
prompt, effective treatment. Tertiary prevention is the reduction in
the prevalence of residual disability following mental disorder by
effective rehabilitation and by ensuring adequate follow-up care for
the total population of ex-patients. It targets the people who have
developed the disorders and aims at helping in the management,
reducing the impairment and preventing relapse.
Involving Khap in a treatment approach would ascertain following
positive changes in rehabilitation of mentally disturbed people:
n Stigma and discrimination reduce their ability to be included fully
in the social life of communities. Khap involvement will decrease
the impact of discrimination and stigma associated with mental
illnesses.
n It
will acknowledge cultural differences and ways these
differences may impact the course and nature of recovery.
n It will enhancecollaboration among individual with mental illness
and normal and help in developing psychological well-being.
n It will help in treating people with respect by full social
reintegration that lead to quality of life and desired outcome.
n It
will ascertain that people with mental illness can get
accommodation in community.
n It will make mental health professional more resourceful and
approachable.
n It will develop trusting, equal relationships and partnerships of
patient with mental illness in society.
n It will assume hope in patients and their caregivers and ultimately
leads to holistic health.
n There will be specific effort allocated to prevention, advocacy
and awareness work with sensitivity to local culture.
n It will assist people with mental illness to optimize their quality of
life including achieving residential, educational, recreational and
vocational goals and aspirations.

Conclusion
Mental disorders take enormous toll in all societies, cultures, in
human suffering, disability and loss of community resources.