Our guest today is Dr. Anandhi Narasimhan is a child and adult psychiatrist and has won the Jewel of India award for her contribution to medicine. She specializes in disaster and international psychiatry and has seen and studied the effects of the COVID pandemic around the world. Dr. Narasimhan has given her services in volunteering for medical humanitarian work throughout the world. We are going to discuss the effects of COVID on mental health in our current time.

"I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to understand how mental health works throughout the world and how I may be able to contribute my knowledge to help improve mental health conditions.

She talks about the variety of responses and circumstances that are showing up as a result of the COVID virus, especially for minorities who do not have resources for medical care. She treats patients in this demographic virtually and provides community outreach and education.

Working to improve the mental health stressors with her patients, she discusses instances of domestic violence, how she is working with schools to know what is going on in children's' homes, and how healthcare workers are getting assistance for stress incurred on the job.

Dr. Narasimhan stresses the importance of primary healthcare activities such as washing hands, social distancing, and staying at home. However, some individuals are not able to get proper healthcare because they are not mobile and are stuck at home. Healthcare advocacy groups are advocating for those in the medical community, and the California Medical Association is setting up clinician coaching programs to provide emotional support to healthcare workers.

In This Episode:

• [01:22] Dr. Narasimhan gives us her background and how she became a psychiatrist.
• [04:40] Situations she is seeing as a result of tension caused by COVID.
• [06:24] What she is doing for her community outreach program.
• [08:37] How Dr. Narasimhan has provided outreach virtually to low-income families.
• [12:19] Client cases that she currently has on her patient care list.
• [17:21] Removing the stigma of the guilt when an abused individual reaches out for help.
• [21:23] Training individuals to command some of the responsibilities of reach out work.
• [24:28] Correlations between low-income, physical health and mental health.
• [30:02] Assistance for our front-line healthcare workers.
• [35:46] Businesses reopening and healthcare risk associated with exposure.
• [38:50] America's response to the virus was slow and lagged behind other developed countries.
• [41:44] Her advice to those who are stuck at home and losing hope.

Guest Bio

Dr. Anandhi Narasimhan is a Board Certified Physician accredited by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology specializing in Adult, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Narasimhan completed her adult psychiatry residency training at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and completed her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training at University of California Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

She has distinguished herself in child trauma and neuroimaging research and has published her work including co-authoring a book chapter, "Child and Adolescent Responses to Trauma."

Currently, Dr. Narasimhan runs a private practice in Westwood, Los Angeles, in addition to serving as an independent contractor for Aviva Family and Children's Services and Masada Homes, which are both non-profit agencies with the Department of Mental Health.

She is a popular media guest in the field of psychology and has had several media appearances including CNN, Fox News, USA Today and is available for speaking engagements as an expert discussant.

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