Mental Health Policy and Debates
NIMHANS plays a central role in India's mental health programs focused on accessibility, early intervention, and community care. As the nodal center for the Government of India's Tele-MANAS (Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States), NIMHANS supports a 24/7 tele-mental health helpline providing free, multilingual counseling and referral services nationwide. In addition, NIMHANS contributes to capacity building under the National Mental Health Programme and leads digital and community outreach initiatives targeting underserved populations.
During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences led India's mental health response through helplines and guidelines, though some critics argued this risked over-medicalizing socioeconomic distress. A 2025 study reported by The New Indian Express on neurological complications in COVID-19 patients was also debated after its findings were linked in public discourse to vaccine safety, raising concerns about misinterpretation.
Experts from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences were closely involved in shaping and interpreting the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, particularly its rights-based provisions, while also warning that safeguards such as restrictions on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) could pose challenges in clinical practice and implementation.
In May 2015, the institute's faculty association criticized the 'Juvenile Justice Bill' that was tabled in Parliament. Preeti Jacob, from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, was quoted as saying "Juveniles are less culpable and are much more amenable to rehabilitative efforts and thus should not be transferred to the adult criminal justice system. The assessments that are being proposed in the bill in order to ascertain the mental capacity to commit an offense are arbitrary and unscientific."
In December 2014, it was reported that a soldier from the Indian Navy was being held in NIMHANS for a month to evaluate whether he was suffering from mental illness, after acting as a whistleblower. After the month-long evaluation, it was concluded that the Navy person was not suffering from any mental illness.
In July 2013, TOI reported that NIMHANS was collaborating with the Central Bureau of Investigation to train its staff with interrogation techniques.
In 2012, the central government approached NIMHANS to suppress anti-nuclear protests regarding the construction of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. The government asked NIMHANS to dispatch psychiatrists to Kudankulam to counsel protesters. To fulfill the plan, NIMHANS formed a team of six members, all from the Department of Social Psychiatry. The psychiatrists were sent to get a "peek into the protesters' minds" and help them learn the importance of the plant.
In 2008, a reality show contestant, Shinjini Sen, after getting reprimanded by the TV show judges, temporarily lost her voice and physical mobility. It was alleged by the media that the television show judges' behavior caused such disability. To resolve her case, she was flown from Kolkata to Bangalore's NIMHANS to be treated for a neurobiological condition. Professor B N Gangadhar, the then medical superintendent, told the press, "We can say at this juncture that she could be suffering from depression. Depression does not lead to permanent loss of speech or physical disability. We are diagnosing why that has happened. There could be complex neurological factors leading to such conditions."
Department of Psychiatry
MV Govindaswamy Centre
NIMHANS Convention Centre
Rehabilitation Centre Park
NIMHANS Central Garden
NIMHANS Men's Hostel
NIMHANS Lakkasandra campus
NIMHANS Byrasandra campus
