I live close to the home and clinic of a well-known psychiatrist. Every day, I watch a steady stream of people coming and going from his consultation. A few wear visible signs of distress — furrowed brows, anxious body language, restless pacing. But most blend into the crowd, their struggles tucked behind calm expressions — much like you or me on any ordinary day.
The psychiatrist himself is a senior practitioner, managing his entire clinic alone. It often makes me wonder: how does he engage with each patient? How does he listen, diagnose, and decide on treatment — whether it’s medication, therapy, or simple reassurance?
As a layperson with growing curiosity, I started thinking about the types of mental health conditions he might be treating. Anxiety? Depression? OCD? ADHD? SEXUAL - Arousal disorders, Relationship stress, Drug Abuse? The list could be long and diverse. But does he maintain any data? Does he track patterns over time?
Given that he works independently, I imagine he must be dealing case-by-case, not storing any cookies of any patient. But what if there was a way to organize the information — not for surveillance, but for insight? Probably this data could be used by other young psychiatric doctors.
What if he kept a basic log of the issues reported by patients? Over time, even a simple digital tool could generate a tag cloud or issue frequency chart — offering a bird’s eye view of the common mental health concerns in his practice. ( Btw, is there a specific software for such doctors to track or monitor patient information) Probably!
What if he had an assistant to help document recurring patterns and generate informative content based on real-life cases (with full privacy, of course)? A small, dedicated website could serve as a resource — offering reading material, guides, or FAQs that could be printed and handed to patients after their session.
Even small steps like these could lead to meaningful change — not just in how mental health is treated, but in how it is understood, discussed, and destigmatized. And this sparked a larger thought: what if institutions like Trivandrum Medical College took this idea and scaled it for public benefit!
The Reality on the Ground - Patients at Medical College Psychiatry Dept
From students and working professionals to homemakers and retirees, mental health issues span demographics. While private practitioners are doing commendable work, they often operate solo — managing consultations, prescriptions, and follow-ups single-handedly. There’s little time left to document trends, build awareness, or support patients with post-consultation educational resources.
Now, imagine the power of a well-structured digital system — a platform that not only logs trends but educates, collaborates, and grows into a living, breathing mental health repository. This is where institutions like Trivandrum Medical College can lead by example.
A Digital Mental Health Ecosystem: A 16 Plus Point Roadmap
1. Begin with the Right Tools
Equip the Psychiatry Department with essential digital tools — a paid ChatGPT subscription for AI-assisted content generation, and Canva Pro for graphic design and visual content creation.
U.S. Example: Stanford University’s Center for Youth Mental Health uses AI-based tools to prepare data summaries and educational material for their outreach programs.
2. Build a Government-Backed Digital Portal
For this portal to be truly useful, vibrant, and user-friendly, it’s best to minimize direct government control over its design and day-to-day management. In many cases, government-led projects tend to involve multiple committees, leading to slow decision-making and diluted vision due to too many conflicting opinions.
Additionally, it's advisable to avoid assigning the portal’s development to standard government agencies like NIC or state-level IT cells. While competent in administrative systems, these agencies often produce sites that are overly functional, outdated in design, and lacking in user experience — more like a digital version of a PWD building than a modern, engaging platform.
Instead, partnering with professional web development firms like TCS or Infosys or WIPRO with experience in healthcare or education portals will ensure the site is dynamic, intuitive, and designed with the end-user in mind.
Set up a professionally developed website or portal managed by a government health body or a public trust. Seek CSR funding from IT giants like TCS, Infosys, or Wipro to cover initial development and maintenance costs.
Best Practice: The NIH (National Institutes of Health) in the US regularly collaborates with tech firms for research portals and educational sites.
3. Tap into Alumni Networks for Initial Funding
Reach out to the college’s alumni — both MBBS and MD graduates. Many would be willing to contribute towards the purchase of laptops, software subscriptions, and web hosting costs.
4. Assign Content Creation Teams
PG students, interns, or faculty volunteers can be grouped into teams. Each team is responsible for researching, generating, and editing content on specific mental health topics, from common issues like anxiety to rare psychiatric disorders.
Apart from the content ideas and raw topics from medical students, we require a content team ( volunteers and paid team members to run such a project).
- A blog-writing assistant creates content based on the input given
- A social media assistant creates poster and content for website, blog, social media
- A repurposing assistant converts the content into bite-sized content for other channels
- Editing assistant ( checking the content, translating it into Malayalam using online tools, and proof checking)
- Student volunteers from undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Journalism, Mass Communication, and Media Studies.
5. Use AI as a Co-Researcher
Train students to use ChatGPT and other AI tools effectively. This includes crafting precise prompts to generate accurate, research-backed articles. AI can help in summarizing journal articles, translating medical jargon, and even drafting case studies.
6. Daily Updates to the Website & Social Media
Push content to the website and cross-post on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter). Before launch, study the layouts of leading health education platforms like:
- Cleveland Clinic
- WebMD
- Mayo Clinic
7. Segmented Content Access
The portal should have three distinct content sections:
- For the Public – in plain language with visuals and videos
- For Students – technical content, case studies, presentations
- For Researchers – access to citations, data sets, rare case archives
8. Hire a Portal Assistant
Appoint a junior staff or intern responsible for collating the content created by students and uploading them in a reader-friendly, SEO-optimized format. ( Look for volunteers and experts from tech industry who can spent their time)
9. Translate for Local Reach
Use tools like ChatGPT or DeepL for initial Malayalam translations. Then have native-language volunteers or faculty proofread the content before publication.
10. Visual Design Using Canva
Each content post should include:
- Social Media Posters ( sharable ones of FB, Stories, etc)
- Awareness posters
- Short videos or animated explainers
- Reels and stories for Instagram and Facebook
Inspiration: The University of Michigan’s Depression Center regularly posts digestible video content for public health awareness.
11. Data-Driven Insights from Case Logs
Maintain anonymized logs of patient complaints and diagnosis. At the end of each month, generate trend reports showing:
- Common mental health issues treated
- Age/gender-wise segmentation
- Seasonal spikes (exam stress, postnatal depression, etc.)
- Use this to inform outreach and content planning.
12. Establish a Digital Library
Create an indexed and searchable knowledge archive — just like Yale’s digital collection. Each record should include:
- Summary articles
- Peer-reviewed sources
- Case snapshots (anonymized)
- Downloadable guides and handouts
13. Educational Videos on YouTube
Launch a dedicated YouTube channel for the department. Post:
- Patient education videos
- Short 1-min explainers
- Faculty talks
- Animated mental health tips
US Example: Johns Hopkins Psychiatry posts webinars and Q&A sessions with their mental health professionals, driving both trust and education.
14. Build Global Collaborations
Use the portal as a digital handshake to collaborate with psychiatry departments in international medical schools. Exchange of case studies, tele-lectures, and even student seminars can follow.
15. Donation & Crowdfunding Gateway
Include a donation page where individuals and alumni can contribute to the psychiatry department’s efforts — fund for buying research journal access, printing brochures, developing new content formats, or hosting awareness events.
16. Mental Health Campaigns Every Month
Rather than generic campaigns, run focused month-long campaigns:
- January: Exam Stress
- March: Women’s Mental Health
- June: Depression & Monsoon Blues
- October: World Mental Health Day (big push)
Content should include public awareness videos, free downloadables, mini-quizzes, and interactive webinars.
Why This Matters
The beauty of this vision lies in its scalability. What starts in Trivandrum Medical College could become a model for other government medical colleges across Kerala — and even nationally.
By combining AI, student enthusiasm, faculty guidance, and tech support, we can create a mental health resource that serves everyone: the distressed teenager, the anxious parent, the curious student, and the committed psychiatrist.
Final Thought: We’re not just creating a website or uploading content. We’re building a living mental health encyclopedia — made in Kerala, powered by students, and designed to help everyone feel a little less alone or help in their journey of life.
P.S - This plan on paper looks exhaustive. However, a small step could be taken - step-by-step walk to a larger digital library. All the content could help institutions like Trivandrum Medical College to collect and create a large source of content around mental health, wellness and self-care.
P.S.S - This article is written using ChatGPT. It's based on the prompt based on my observation, on what I had been thinking for a long-time.
