Background: COVID 19 lockdown has an impact on the mental health of the general population, COVID patients, and health professionals. However, knowledge about its impact on psychiatric patients is limited. Objectives: To assess the mental health outcomes among psychiatric patients due to disruption of access to psychiatric services caused by the COVID 19 lockdown. Materials and Methods: It was a single-center, cross-sectional, observational, pragmatic study conducted at a tertiary care psychiatric hospital. All consecutive psychiatric patients presented to review in the outpatient department for 3 weeks following the relaxation of lockdown were screened, and a total of 305 eligible patients were enrolled. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied to capture the mental health status of the patients. Results: More than three-fourths (78.3%) of patients were off medications during the lockdown. During lockdown, more than half (64.3%) of patients' mental health conditions worsened, and significantly more in those who were not on medications. More than half of patients who were doing well before lockdown showed re-emergence of symptoms, and it was more commonly seen in mood disorder patients, followed by schizophrenia and other psychotic disorder patients. Thirty-one (10.1%) patients reported self-harm ideas; six (1.9%) claimed to have made self-harm attempts during lockdown. Conclusions: COVID-19 lockdown has worsened the mental health status of psychiatric patients. Strengthening community-based psychiatric care in tie-up with telepsychiatry services and adopting new innovative measures may help face such eventualities in the future.

Background: Clinical profiling helps to identify the common psychiatric problems that would result in psychiatric referrals and admissions and helps to develop protocols to counteract common psychiatric problems. Aim: The study aims to identify the profile of forensic ward patients in terms of sociodemographic, clinical, and criminal profiles; evaluate the challenges faced while treating them; and to come up with certain recommendations to the concerned prison authorities to how to deal with them. Materials and Methods: Retrospective chart reviews of 90 male forensic ward inpatients were done and the details as per the semi-structured intake pro forma were taken, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Results: Majority of the patients were single, uneducated, unemployed, and belonged to low socioeconomic status. Referral letters from the concerned prison medical officer were absent in half of the cases. Majority of the patients had personality disorders as the main diagnosis, and antisocial personality disorder was seen in majority (34.4%), followed by substance disorders (32.2%), psychosis (30%), and mood disorders (22.2%). 12.2% of convicted murder individuals diagnosed as schizophrenia. Most common crime committed by the individuals with Anti-social personality disorder was theft (15.6%). Conclusion: In many patients, the information about the reasons for referral and behavioral observation reports was lacking. This lack of information makes it difficult for the psychiatrist to accurately diagnose and treat. Sensitization and creating awareness of prison authorities are of paramount importance to deal with these challenges.

Background: COVID-19, caused by the coronavirus, was declared a global pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic hit India, similar to the world, reporting its first case in March 2020. After the first wave, the second wave in India started on March 2021. The impact of the second wave was huge on all tertiary care centers, especially psychiatric care centers, compared to the first wave of COVID-19. Aim: The aim of this study is to study the impact of COVID-19 on psychiatric patients at a tertiary psychiatric hospital in Telangana state of South India. Methodology: A retrospective chart review of all patients who got infected with COVID-19 during the second wave was done. We screened all the inpatient cases who were under admission during the second wave. For the study, a semi-structured intake pro forma was used. Sociodemographic variables, clinical variables, treatment variables, and outcomes of COVID-19-infected psychiatric patients were studied. Results: The current article compiles the management of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Institute of Mental Health in inpatient care and the challenges and experiences during the management of psychiatric inpatients with COVID-19 in a tertiary care center in Telangana.