Purpose:To present the descriptive data on the frequency of medical and psychiatric morbidity and also to discuss various pertinent issues relevant to the disaster management, the future challenges and psychosocial needs of the 2013 floods in Uttarakhand, India.Materials and Methods:Observation was undertaken by the disaster management team of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in the worst affected four districts of Uttarakhand. Qualified psychiatrists diagnosed the patients using the International Classification of Diseases-10 criteria. Data were collected by direct observation, interview of the survivors, group sessions, individual key-informant interview, individual session, and group interventions.Results:Patients with physical health problems formed the majority of treatment seekers (39.6%) in this report. Only about 2% had disaster induced psychiatric diagnoses. As was expected, minor mental disorders in the form of depressive disorders and anxiety disorders formed majority of the psychiatric morbidity. Substance use disorders appear to be very highly prevalent in the community; however, we were not able to assess the morbidity systematically.Conclusions:The mental health infrastructure and manpower is abysmally inadequate. There is an urgent need to implement the National Mental Health Program to increase the mental health infrastructure and services in the four major disaster-affected districts.

Himalayan tsunami of Uttarakhand in 2013 was associated with considerable psychosocial adversities among the resident children and adolescents. As children are a vulnerable population, a public health approach towards assessment and management of the psychosocial adversities in this population is urgently required at the state and national levels.

The present investigation was undertaken to examine the effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on interepisodic symptoms, emotional regulation, and quality of life in patients with bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) in remission. The sample for the study comprised a total of five patients with the diagnosis of BPAD in partial or complete remission. Each patient was screened to fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria and later assessed on the Beck Depressive Inventory I, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, and The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-BREF. Following preassessments, patients underwent 8–10 weeks of MBCT. A single case design with pre- and post-intervention assessment was adopted to evaluate the changes. Improvement was observed in all five cases on the outcome variables. The details of the results are discussed in the context of the available literature. Implications, limitations, and ideas for future investigations are also discussed.