Nearly 40% of the divorce cases that come to family courts pertain to persons with mental health issues, said T C S Raja Chockalingam, principal judge, family court. He added that about half of this group of cases involved persons living with different levels of schizophrenia.
Speaking at a seminar and workshop on 'Guidelines for marriage and mental health issues in women' organized by the Indian Psychiatric Society on Saturday, the judge said judicial officers should be given training on basic psychiatric issues. This would help them serve litigants better.
He said even specialists from disciplines such as orthopaedics and gastroenterology were hard put to diagnose an anxiety disorder. Commenting on the legal terms that were used with reference to mental health issues, the judge said, "The phrase 'unsoundness of mind' was coined in 1869 by the UK parliament but we are still using it today. In my opinion, the whole terminology has to be dramatically defined by a panel of experts and a judge with knowledge of psychiatry," he said.
Programme convenor Bharathi Visveswaran, senior consultant psychiatrist, Apollo Hospitals, said the Indian Psychiatric Society was hoping to have some guidelines for litigants, psychiatrists and the judiciary on how to deal with such cases by January 2012.
"Divorce rate in the country has gone up by 350% over the last ten years. Psychiatrists are frequently called to court for divorce cases. Unless we evolve a set of standardized guidelines for the patient and the family, psychiatrists and the judiciary, it will become very difficult. After the workshop, we plan to send out a draft to stakeholders across the country, including mental health professionals and social workers," she said.