Srinagar CME Unites Experts to Rethink Child Mental Healthcare
KD NEWS SERVICE
SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 28: The 4th National Mid-Term Continuing Medical Education (CME) of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (IACAM) concluded in Srinagar on Sunday after three days of intensive academic deliberations on the ethical, legal, clinical and technological challenges shaping mental healthcare for children and adolescents.
Held from September 25 to 27 in collaboration with the Jammu & Kashmir Psychiatric Society (JKPS), the national-level academic programme brought together psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians, legal professionals, researchers, academicians and other mental-health practitioners from across the country, creating a multidisciplinary platform to examine how children and young people can be provided care that is clinically sound, ethically responsible and firmly rooted in their rights and dignity.
The CME, themed “Children, Ethics and Laws,” placed the relationship between mental healthcare and the legal and ethical rights of children at the centre of its scientific discussions. The deliberations also explored the rapidly changing technological environment in which young people are growing up, including the increasingly prominent role of artificial intelligence and chatbots in education, communication and potentially mental-health support.
The conference was inaugurated by Dr Iffat Hassan Shah, Principal/Dean, Government Medical College, Srinagar, who highlighted the expansion of mental-health services in Kashmir and acknowledged the sustained efforts of professionals working to strengthen the sector.
The inauguration set the tone for a programme that went beyond conventional clinical approaches and examined mental health through the wider framework of child development, rights, protection, law, ethics and social responsibility.
Dr Savita Malhotra, Life President of IACAM, emphasised the need to strengthen the availability of trained mental-health professionals to respond to the growing psychological and developmental needs of children and adolescents. The discussions repeatedly underlined that the increasing recognition of mental-health concerns among young people must be matched by adequate human resources, specialised training and accessible services.
Dr Vivek Agarwal, President, IACAM, and Dr Rachana Bhargava, General Secretary, IACAM, stressed the importance of incorporating ethical and legal considerations into everyday child and adolescent mental-health practice. They emphasised that treatment cannot be viewed solely through the clinical lens and that professionals must remain conscious of the rights, autonomy, vulnerabilities and best interests of children while making decisions concerning their care.
The scientific programme examined the complex intersection between mental healthcare, child rights and the legal framework governing children and young people. Sessions addressed ethical dilemmas encountered in clinical practice, legal questions involving minors, mental-health assessments, child protection, developmental concerns and the professional responsibilities of clinicians dealing with children and adolescents.
A central theme running through the deliberations was that children must not be viewed merely as passive recipients of treatment. They are individuals with their own voices, rights, vulnerabilities and evolving capacities. This perspective, the experts stressed, has important implications for how children are assessed, communicated with, treated and protected within healthcare institutions and wider social systems.
The programme featured a combination of lectures, interactive workshops, panel discussions and academic exchanges, allowing participants to examine both theoretical principles and practical challenges encountered in the field.
Among the prominent contributors was Dr Shekhar Seshadri, whose work in child and adolescent mental health, ethics and child rights has contributed significantly to professional education and practice in the field. The participation of clinicians and academicians from different disciplines added depth to discussions that increasingly moved beyond the traditional boundaries of psychiatry.
AI Brings a New Dimension to Child Development Debate
One of the more contemporary discussions during the CME centred on the panel “From Chalkboards to Chatbots,” which examined the implications of artificial intelligence for education, human cognition and the way children and young people learn, communicate and develop.
The discussion recognised that artificial intelligence is no longer a distant technological possibility but an evolutionary development already transforming everyday human life. Speakers acknowledged the enormous usefulness of AI and chatbots while simultaneously raising questions about their potential impact on human cognition, creativity, independent thinking and social interaction.
The panel explored the possibility that AI could fundamentally change the traditional classroom by making education more accessible, individualised and adaptable to the needs of individual learners. At the same time, participants raised concerns about whether excessive dependence on intelligent digital systems could inadvertently weaken some of the intellectual habits that education traditionally seeks to cultivate.
The concern was not simply about whether machines can provide information faster than humans, but about what happens when the process of questioning, reasoning, experimentation and intellectual disagreement is increasingly delegated to machines.
The discussion drew a distinction between producing highly informed learners and nurturing genuinely creative, critical and independent thinkers. While chatbots can provide enormous volumes of knowledge and personalised assistance, the challenge for educators and policymakers will be to ensure that technology complements rather than displaces curiosity, critical inquiry and the human dimensions of learning.
The panel also considered the broader social implications of AI. Human communication, socialisation and emotional expression are already being influenced by digital technologies, and the pace of technological change suggests that its impact on future generations will extend far beyond classrooms.
The discussion raised larger questions about how humans will coexist with increasingly intelligent machines and how society will negotiate the boundaries between human intelligence, artificial intelligence and emerging forms of human-machine interaction. Rather than treating AI as a development that can be resisted or ignored, the deliberations stressed the need to understand it, regulate its use responsibly and harness its benefits while recognising the risks it may create.
For child and adolescent mental-health professionals, the issue carries particular significance because children are among the earliest and most intensive users of emerging digital technologies. The psychological, developmental, educational and social consequences of growing up alongside increasingly sophisticated AI systems are therefore likely to become an important area of research and clinical inquiry.
Mental Health as a Public-Health Priority
The three-day programme also reinforced the need to treat child and adolescent mental health as a public-health priority rather than a narrowly clinical concern.
Experts stressed that the psychological wellbeing of children is influenced by a complex combination of family circumstances, educational environments, developmental factors, social relationships, technology, community conditions and access to healthcare. Consequently, addressing mental-health needs requires cooperation among families, schools, healthcare institutions, mental-health professionals, policymakers and legal authorities.
The emphasis on a rights-based approach was particularly significant in the context of children who may be unable to fully articulate their needs or exercise decision-making autonomy in the same manner as adults. Professionals dealing with such cases must balance protection with participation and clinical necessity with respect for the child’s evolving capacity.
The discussions also highlighted the importance of early recognition of developmental and psychological concerns.
Timely assessment and intervention can play a critical role in preventing difficulties from becoming more complex, while creating systems that allow children and families to seek help without stigma remains equally important.
The organisers called for mental-health systems that are evidence-based, ethical, compassionate and child-centred, with the dignity, voice and best interests of children placed at the centre of clinical practice, policy and law.
Srinagar Emerges as a Platform for National Academic Exchange
The successful hosting of the CME in Srinagar also highlighted Jammu & Kashmir’s growing engagement with national academic and professional networks in mental health.
The participation of experts and delegates from different parts of the country provided an opportunity for practitioners from the region to exchange experiences, discuss emerging clinical practices and strengthen professional links with colleagues working elsewhere in India.
For Jammu & Kashmir, where mental-health services have been expanding, such academic exchanges can contribute to continued professional development and greater awareness of emerging approaches to child and adolescent mental healthcare.
The conference consequently served a dual purpose: advancing academic discussion on critical issues affecting young people while strengthening the region’s connection with the wider national mental-health community.
At the conclusion of the three-day programme, Dr Rayees Ahmad Wani, Organising Chairperson, and Dr Syed Karrar Hussain, Organising Secretary, expressed gratitude to the faculty, delegates, students, organising teams and collaborating institutions whose participation contributed to the success of the CME.
The gathering concluded with a renewed commitment to developing accessible and ethical mental-health systems for children and adolescents, with an emphasis on protecting their rights, listening to their voices and ensuring that their best interests remain central to clinical decisions, public policy and legal frameworks.
The Srinagar CME ultimately underscored a larger reality: child and adolescent mental healthcare is entering an era in which medicine can no longer operate in isolation from law, ethics, education and technology. As children grow up in a rapidly changing digital and social environment, the systems created to protect and treat them will have to evolve with equal urgency.
