More than 4000 teams participated in Fortis’s Psyche-Ed; India’s only Quiz competition on Psychology

Bangalore: Psych-ED, the national level annual psychology quiz by for school students organized by Fortis Healthcare, saw a participation of more than 4000 teams from 694 schools in its 4th edition held earlier today. As the online round of Psych-ED went live, more than 10,000 participants from 202 cities across India participated in the quiz simultaneously. The quiz was designed and executed under the aegis of Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare Limited.
After the online round, the top 12 teams from six zones across India will qualify for the zonal finals which will be held at Mohali, Jaipur, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Gurugram between 16th to 23rd August 2019. The winning team from each zonal final will then face-off at the National Championships to be held on 1st September 2019. At each stage of the quiz, students will get an opportunity to win lots of prizes, participate in internships and scholarships.
Talking about the idea behind Psych-Ed, Dr Samir Parikh said, “Conversations around mental health have always been shrouded in stigma. We live in a world where close to 650 million people suffer from mental health problems like depression and anxiety, but most are unable, or unwilling to reach out for help. There is almost an 800% shortage of mental health professionals in the country, and the only way to bridge that gap is to encourage more and more young minds to start to take up the branch and have positive dialogue on mental health.”
Psych-ED illustrates Fortis’s endeavor to make mental health a priority for India’s youth. The quiz puts to test the knowledge of students from Class XI & XII and seeks to cultivate their interest in the subject. The objective of the quiz is to impart learning while ensuring that the subject remains engaging and fun for the students. The initiative is supported by GD Goenka University, Project CACA, Gracia Raina Foundation, Rupa Publications, Intex, Skybags and Gaana.
Dr Parikh further adds, “The quiz presents students with the opportunity to hone their ability in objectively creating a juxtaposition between theory and practicality. We will be using testing tools such as crosswords, audio-visual elements, buzzer rounds and rapid fires. The quiz will challenge teams to step outside their comfort zones and dig deep into their knowledge and understanding of the human mind. The purpose of our efforts is to advocate for a much larger cause – sensitization of the masses with respect to good mental health. In this perilous time, where suicides and mental health illnesses are at the forefront of India’s healthcare crisis – it is important to make people aware. As professionals in this field, we need to give these tabooed and stigmatised issues a platform on which they can be showcased without any filters.”
The aim of Psych-Ed quiz is to be an innovative tool through which each student can become an ambassador for positive mental health and aim to reduce the stigma that shrouds mental illnesses.