On Friday, 25th of November, the class on Mental Disorder conducted a field study at Grhasia Mental Hospital. The activities consist of several sessions, including an introduction to the mental hospital, learning materials, and real-time observation of the mental hospital patients. The first session was the mental hospital’s introduction by the Grhasia Mental Hospital representative. The session mainly tells about the history and general information of the hospital, its vision and mission, and the various services they provide. The mental hospital offers various services, including a psychological clinic, rehabilitation clinic, mental health service, counseling, physiotherapy, and psychoeducation.
Consequently, after the session ended, the activity proceeded to another learning material about mental health and mental disorder, including general knowledge, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. Later on, the presentation and learning materials ended, and the students were able to observe the mental hospital’s conduct, which included interaction with the patients following the written rules of the hospital. Since only some of the students were allowed to do the observation, a group representative was chosen to conduct the observation.
During the observation process, the representatives have to search for the diagnosis and prognosis of the patients. The students were guided by the guardian from the hospital to communicate and interact with the patients. In the ward, the students were able to interview the patients, which succeeded in increasing their insights as psychology students. Afterward, the session ended as the time of the visits had ended. In the last class meeting, the students shared their experiences of meeting mental hospital patients, which can give them knowledge about the surroundings in a mental hospital.