Mental Health Act 2017 and Psychiatric Social Work Practice

Abstract

I feel a strong need for a journal on Psychiatric Social Work, and I don't think I need to justify why. The strongest reason is the current development in Psychiatric Social Work (PSW) teaching and training institutions and the rapid growth in research and publication, with hundreds of journals now emerging. I explored various options and was set to start a new journal, but then the name 'Indian Journal of Psychiatric Social Work' came to mind. This journal was started by Dr. R.K. Upadhyay, then the head of the Department of Psychiatric Social Work, and was published by the Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi. The first volume was published in 1972 and continued regularly until 1978, with volume VII being the last before it was discontinued. Many eminent faculty professionals have written papers for this journal, and it was indexed in Psychological Abstracts, USA. Finally, after trying for two years, I came into contact with Dr. R.K. Upadhyay, and he graciously granted me permission to continue the Indian Journal of Psychiatric Social Work from the next volume. So, this is the story behind the journal which is now in your hands.